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On Saturday, the Dodgers gave fans who attended the game Showtime Lakers T-shirts and a complimentary cartoon design of the legendary Lakers wearing Dodgers uniforms. Lakers legends Michael Cooper, A.C. Green, Kurt Rambis, Byron Scott, Mychal Thompson and James Worthy also made an appearance for a pre-game ceremony and threw out the first pitch.
Kurt Rambis was heavily involved in putting together Redick’s coaching staff , a process that took up until the end of Summer League. In an effort to keep closer tabs on information running through the front office, sources say every decision involved Pelinka, the Rambises, Jeanie Buss and Tim Harris throughout the process, which led to far more conversation about each move and wound up gumming things up to the point of complete ineffectiveness. “Rob is a smart dude,” said a Western Conference scout in the halls of the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. “You aren’t going to get fired for decisions you don’t make. If you involve your bosses in those decisions, you’re that much safer.”
Rambis, of course would relent, he’d join the Lakers and change his entire life by becoming a beloved member of Showtime and a NBA lifer. Following West’s death Tuesday at 86, Rambis remembered the iconic former Lakers star and executive. “His drive, his competitiveness, his obsession with winning, I mean, you felt that,” Rambis told The Times. “You felt that kind of good competitive pressure that he put on himself and the osmosis, in a lot of ways, of how he carried himself and things that he said. And, you know, the anxiety that he went through watching games and how relieved he was when you won, all of that culminated in helping the Lakers develop this competitive winning culture.”
Magic Johnson: I had so much fun last night with four of my Showtime Laker teammates Byron Scott, Michael Cooper, Kurt Rambis, and the great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. We had a great discussion about how we performed as a team, our goals were aligned with each other, pic.twitter.com/4baWkPDQnI
I had so much fun last night with four of my Showtime Laker teammates Byron Scott, Michael Cooper, Kurt Rambis, and the great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. We had a great discussion about how we performed as a team, our goals were aligned with each other, pic.twitter.com/4baWkPDQnI
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) February 22, 2023
Ham could give this whole concept a strong nudge by benching Westbrook, but the rookie coach brought him back for the final four-plus minutes in Sunday’s fall-from-ahead loss to the Trail Blazers with the Lakers up 98-90. Yet another ace colleague, Ben Golliver of The Washington Post, was in the building and has this report from the scene on how it appeared as though Ham was catering to Westbrook’s past All-Star stature when he could have been reducing his role in Sunday’s crunch time. Questions about and criticism of Jeanie Buss' inner circle are inspired, above all, by the team's ongoing struggles.
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On the cusp of training camp, as media day neared and the topic of Westbrook’s uncertain future continued to dominate the conversation around the NBA, sources with direct knowledge of the negotiations say the Lakers’ key decision-makers spent several days engaged in deep conversations about the feasibility of a blockbuster trade with Indiana. Vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka, owner Jeanie Buss and senior basketball adviser Kurt Rambis seriously considered sending Westbrook and unprotected first-round picks in 2027 and 2029 to the Pacers for center Myles Turner and guard Buddy Hield, sources said. They held a series of meetings in the days leading up to camp to analyze the possible Pacers deal from every angle, with the views of Ham and Lakers executives Joey and Jesse Buss also being strongly considered in the process. The organization even delayed the midweek news conference for Pelinka and Ham as the debate continued.
James Plowright: HBO are looking for a someone to play Mitch Kupchak in “Winning Time”.
HBO are looking for a someone to play Mitch Kupchak in “Winning Time”. pic.twitter.com/rCHjrnvvYG
— James Plowright (@British_Buzz) August 1, 2022
According to the buzz in NBA coaching circles over the weekend, Ham has likewise been promised the autonomy to pick his coaching staff and is said to have received assurances that Lakers senior advisor Kurt Rambis will not be a regular presence in coaching meetings like he was with Vogel. If those promises come to fruition and Ham actually receives all that latitude, they will rank as significant concessions secured by a first-time NBA head coach.
Most of the front office, it seems, has zeroed in on Darvin Ham, with former head coaches Terry Stotts (Portland) and Kenny Atkinson (Brooklyn) also in the mix. Ham was briefly an assistant with the Lakers, and according to league sources, he is the favorite of the Phil Jackson-Kurt Rambis layer of Lakers decision-makers. “I think those guys want a young coach they can mold a little bit,” one Western Conference executive told Heavy.com. “I do not think Darvin is a pushover by any means. I just think that they want a guy they can point in the direction they want to go, more traditional basketball, using Russell Westbrook a certain way.”
Based on conversations with those in the know, a ranking of the most powerful Laker decision-making officials would be: executive director/special projects Linda Rambis, director of basketball affairs Kurt Rambis, president of business operations Tim Harris (who dated Jeanie Buss long ago) and general manager Rob Pelinka.
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All three finalists will soon meet with top Lakers officials — including owner Jeanie Buss — in Los Angeles for the next in-person stage, sources said. So far, Lakers vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka, director of basketball affairs Kurt Rambis, vice president of research and development Joey Buss and assistant general manager Jesse Buss have led the first stage of coaching interviews.
She offered strong backing to another embattled Laker basketball exec, Kurt Rambis, who won 28% of his games in four seasons as an NBA coach and whose increased influence has been met with public derision. “I know that there’s been some unfair criticism of Kurt Rambis,” she said. “I want to remind people, he’s been involved in the NBA for close to 40 years, that he has been a part of championship teams both as a player and assistant coach, he is someone I admire for his basketball knowledge.”
“In terms of Linda Rambis, she does not have a role in the basketball department; her role is, as it’s been for the last almost 40 years, is as my advisor,” Buss said. “She and I have worked together for years and years and years. Why that has become an issue for people, I don’t understand.”
Adrian Wojnarowski: “This is very much a committee in L.A. putting together this coaching search. And one person who is certainly significantly involved in this process is Phil Jackson. He’s got a voice in this. He did last time when they hired Frank Vogel. He and Kurt Rambis, (Vogel) had been somebody they had considered with the Knicks before hiring Derek Fisher in New York... They’re moving deliberately. They’re not doing seven or eight or nine candidates all at once. They’re kind of going down a list and taking their time with it. I think that process is going to take a bit.”
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