“He was after the same thing that we were after,” Wolves owner Glen Taylor said. “We both talked about a four-year contract. That’s what he wanted and I think that’s what we wanted, to tie him up so that he would stay here for the long run. I don’t think we’re in to releasing him for the Lakers. I think he is here to build this team and get the good part of it when we get to winning.”
Rambis said he is “absolutely committed” to the Wolves, adding: “I’m not going to look back. I made this decision to come here, I’m here, and I told Glen Taylor I’m here for the long term. I want to go through the whole process, be here from the start and I want to finish it.”
Although he was often mentioned as a possible successor to Phil Jackson, if and when the Lakers coach retires, there was never any guarantee he’d get the job.
That should not be taken to mean that the team ever discreetly let Rambis know they had another plan. Actually, Lakers insiders continue to insist that there’s no succession plan in place because so much of that decision depends on how much longer Jackson coaches and which players are still on the team.
Did you try to talk Rambis out of taking the Minnesota job:
“It was really with mixed emotions and it’s the same with Phil because he depends on Kurt so much. I was worried if Kurt left that it would be difficult for Phil to carry on. A lot of people are aware that when Phil had health problems he turned the team over to Kurt, he had 100% confidence in Kurt, and he had Kurt for the last two seasons be responsible for the defense.”
“Phil is so proud of Kurt and he knows that Kurt has the itch and it’s time for Kurt to be in charge and Phil knew he was ready for that and he wishes him well.”
Kurt Rambis — Minnesota Timberwolves
He could have stayed around in L.A., waiting for Phil Jackson to retire and hoping to take over the throne room of the Lakers. He could have bolted a few months earlier to the heavy lifting required to resurrect the Sacramento Kings. But Rambis chose instead to put his blue collar shovel into the rebuilding job in Minnesota. He replaces Kevin McHale, the man who famously clotheslined him in the 1984 NBA Finals. McHale finished out last season when Randy Wittman was fired, but was never going to fit into a happy marriage with new GM David Kahn. Never mind that the Wolves had already made their personnel moves of the offseason, taking back-to-back point guards with Ricky Rubio and Jonny Flynn in the first round of the draft and trading off veterans Mike Miller and Randy Foye.
Rambis (37-24, .649) had one year as the interim coach of the Lakers in the ’99 lockout season and has developed his coaching chops as both defensive coordinator and developer of young talent. It’s that latter area that is most important in Minnesota, where he’ll have a rehabilitated Al Jefferson (right ACL) in the middle along with Kevin Love up front and Flynn and (maybe) Rubio to create sparks in the backcourt. Kahn wants him to play an up-tempo style and bring a version of the Lakers old “Showtime” attack from Rambis’ playing days to Minnesota. Getting the Wolves back to respectability would be a good initial step and to do that, they’ll have to learn to stop somebody first.
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