I've always had a soft spot for Kurt Rambis. As a Laker, he was basically just the hard nosed workhorse with the nerdy glasses. When the expansion Charlotte Hornets selected him in the 1988 expansion draft, he quickly became one of the favorites for that same hustle.
After stops in Phoenix and Sacramento, Rambis came back to the Lakers organization as an assistant in the front office as well as for Del Harris and Phil Jackson (he briefly was the head coach in 1999, going 24-13). All that has changed was he was older and ... in such an L.A. move ... ditched the glasses.
So it is sad that the Lakers and Rambis will part ways again. Rambis is now the head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves. I wish him the best of luck.
It was always figured in Laker circles that Rambis would be the heir apparent when Jackson finally retires. I guess that wasn't the case since you'd think Rambis would wait just a little bit longer for one of the best jobs in sports than take on a rebuilding project in Minnesota. That was all but sealed when Rambis said "no" to the Kings when they offered him a head gig earlier this year.
The thing is that Rambis isn't "sexy" enough to be the Lakers head coach. You need that suave GQ guy like Pat Riley or be the ego-drive Zen Master of Phil Jackson. Guys that are bigger than life in a town that is filled with people like that.
Of course, Rambis-to-Wolves should send shockwaves to Tobacco Road. Yes, I know that Mike Krzyzewski says that Duke is the only place he will coach but Kobe Bryant may change a lot of that. The Lakers can offer K much, much more money that Duke could think of giving him and with K's love affair with the USA/NBA Olympic Team, he may decide to give it the old college try.
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