The Los Angeles Lakers will play their third and final game of their three-game road trip on Wednesday night with Kobe Bryant and company going head-to-head against the Boston Celtics for the first time this season. This matchup between the two storied franchises will mark the last time Kobe and longtime Lakers trainer Gary Vitti will face the Celtics in Boston — making this game quite special for both men.
With Vitti having a long history with the Lakers dating all the way back to the Showtime era involving the epic battles between these two teams during the 80s, the longtime trainer talked about what it means to be a Laker.
Vitti is as passionate as they come within the Lakers organization and made that clear when talking about the responsibility players have when wearing purple and gold, especially when playing against the Celtics in Boston via Bill Oram of the OC Register:
Lakers-Celtics is a long way from its glory days, so let Gary Vitti get you pumped for tomorrow’s game. @ocregister pic.twitter.com/qyQsTXWXlg
— Bill Oram (@billoram) December 29, 2015
The Lakers will hope to put an end to a four-game skid on Wednesday night at the expense of the Celtics at TD Garden. Bryant, who has openly expressed how much it meant to beat the Celtics in the NBA Finals back in 2010, may come out with a different kind of motivation tomorrow night. Kobe always looks forward to facing off against the Celtics and will likely cherish his final appearance in Boston.
Kobe will have one more showdown with the rival Celtics at the Staples Center in Los Angeles in the last month of the regular season. Brad Stevens’ squad will go on the road to take on the Lakers for a second and final time this season on April 3. Bryant will have only six more games left in his NBA career at that point assuming the Lakers don’t make the playoffs.