MINNEAPOLIS -- A look of disbelief crosses Bill Laimbeer's face. After all, he spent years perfecting such expressions for NBA referees.
"I don't know what you're talking about,'' Laimbeer said when asked if he's teaching those on the young Minnesota Timberwolves to flop.
When it comes to flopping, Laimbeer made Manu Ginobili's moves today look rather amateurish. The former Detroit Pistons center was the all-time master.
MINNEAPOLIS -- Al Jefferson wasn't even born when the incident happened in 1984. But he's seen the old footage.
"The only thing I knew about Kurt (Rambis) from him playing is the highlight of Kevin McHale knocking him out,'' said the Minnesota forward.
Jonny Flynn wasn't born when Rambis won the last his four titles with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1988. But Flynn has seen the highlights as well.
"I remember he had the high socks, the thick glasses and the short shorts,'' said the Timberwolves point guard. "That was my first impressions about him. I said that when we first talked on the phone, and we got a good laugh about it.''
When new Minnesota GM David Kahn made a play for free agent point guard Ramon Sessions, there were two ways to look at it. On the surface, the Sessions deal (four years, $16 million) is a fair price for a solid young playmaker. Given how bad Minnesota's backcourt has been, Sessions can't hurt, right?
But Kahn famously selected two high-profile point guards within the top six picks of the June draft, Spaniard Ricky Rubio and Syracuse's Jonny Flynn. Rubio stayed in Barcelona, all while Kahn insisted the plan was for the pair to play together in Minnesota. When Kahn signed Sessions, the plan was to play him and Flynn together. The problem, which I noted at the time of the signing, is that neither Sessions nor Flynn has any business playing off-guard.
It seems Wolves coach Kurt Rambis has now arrived at the same conclusion.
FanHouse previews all 30 NBA teams in advance of the 2009-10 season. For the Timberwolves, this year is likely going to go down as the year Ricky Rubio didn't come to Minnesota. The only way that's not going to be the case is if first-year coach Kurt Rambis can get his young and unproven team to overachieve and contend for a playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Like we said, this will end up being remembered as the year Rubio didn't come to Minnesota.
Even by the standard of patience required by unglamorous assistant coaches, Lakers bench jockey Kurt Rambis has waited a long time. We wonder why Tom Thibodeau can't get a head coaching job after decades learning the craft of defense, but T.T. just started interviewing for top jobs three years ago. Rambis has been trying to get a head coaching gig since 1998!
Finally, the Wolves have agreed to make Rambis their man, according to Don Seeholzer of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press. The annual salary ($2 million) won't be much more than it was for the Kings gig he scorched away, but Rambis apparently has the security of four years. That mean $8 million guaranteed, versus the $3 million the Kings had been ready to offer.
Before naming Paul Westphal the new coach of the Kings, Sacramento GM Geoff Petrie asked all three candidates (including Lakers assistant Kurt Rambis) if the team's set salary structure (two years at $1.5 million, a third year team option at $2 million) would work for them. If not, you know, see ya.
According to the team, Rambis -- mired in the Finals -- refused to answer if the salary structure would work. On Tuesday, Petrie pushed forth with the question. Rambis' agent Warren LeGarie said his client couldn't be bothered to think about it right now ... so Petrie hired Westphal. Now accusations that LeGarie had been ripping Westphal behind the scenes have come out, while Rambis claims he actually turned down the job.
It's a lot of drama for a job almost no one outside of Sacramento cares about.
The Rotation is a weekly study on the NBA by one of our All-Star voices. In rotation this week is Tom Ziller.
An annual tradition regular as daybreak, as the season ends a pack of coaches are mercilessly hacked to pieces by fans, media and often their own bosses. A parade of potential replacements jumps aboard the carousel. They dance, they preen ... one of them wins. A year or two or (fingers crossed) three later, said doll gets torn apart. The cycle continues.
There was a switch this season, though: the bloodletting happened during the season, as a record eight coaches met the iron maiden between opening night and Valentine's Day. Is there anyone left to execute at season's end?
Well ... yes. Of course there is. After the jump, we tell you whom and guess their replacements.
PHOENIX -- Kurt Rambis is the lucky one that was tasked with coaching the Rookie squad in Friday night's T-Mobile Rookie Challenge. I use the term "coaching" very loosely here, because if you've ever seen how these games play out, they end up as little more than an alley-oop and slam dunk contest very shortly after the opening tip.
Apparently though, Rambis didn't get the memo. Because he spent a good chunk of his time at the morning practice session trying to walk his team through some offensive sets and teach them some plays, and as you'll see in the following video, the players couldn't have seemed less interested in what was going on.
NBA Endgame will preview Celtics-Lakers from all angles. Right now: sports betting options for the basketball historian!
If we ever thought that this 2008 series would eclipse the Lakers - Celtics rivalry from a few decades ago, Sportsbook.com is here to make us forget that. They are offering a series of prop bets on the Finals (entitled "Old School-New School") that focus on fake matchups born out of historical stats created by the 1984 series that everyone so fondly remembers. Por ejemplo:
There are two problems with these types of wagers. One, if you bet on any of them in order to seriously make money and not just because they're fun, well, the first problem is yours. But that's an entirely different issue. (No, seriously. If you are risking bankruptcy because you think Luuuuke is a 'lock' to score six a game, call someone.)
The Bulls are taking their time with this whole "finding a coach" thing, interviewing just about anyone with a shred of interest in the job. According to Brian Hanley of the Chicago Sun-Times, John Paxson has already talked with ...deep breath ... Lakers assistants Brian Shaw and Kurt Rambis, current Jazz assistant Tyrone Corbin and former T'Wolves coach Dwane Casey -- and that's just this week!
Paxson was also scheduled to meet with Jeff Hornacek today and Kings assistant Chuck Person sometime this weekend, as well as John Lucas and Eric Snow sometime in the yet to be determined future. And, of course, don't forget about Celtics assistant Tom Thibodeau, who won't get permission from his current employer until Boston completes their playoff run.
Count 'em up: that's 10 names, and that doesn't include Mark Jackson, who already interviewed, nor Pistons assistants Terry Porter and Michael Curry, who have been suggested as candidates in the past. Do you notice a recurring theme with all these names? With the exception of Thibodeau and Casey, they're all former players, which makes you wonder if a career coach who never had the chance to rub elbows with Paxson as a player stands much of a chance.
When new Minnesota GM David Kahn made a play for free agent point guard Ramon Sessions, there were two ways to look at it. On the surface, the Sessions deal (four years, $16 million) is a fair price for a solid young playmaker. Given how bad Minnesota's backcourt has been, Sessions can't hurt, right?
FanHouse previews all 30 NBA teams in advance of the 2009-10 season.
Even by the standard of patience required by unglamorous assistant coaches, Lakers bench jockey Kurt Rambis has waited a long time. We wonder why Tom Thibodeau can't get a head coaching job after decades learning the craft of defense, but T.T. just started interviewing for top jobs three years ago. Rambis has been trying to get a head coaching gig since 1998!
Before naming Paul Westphal the new coach of the Kings, Sacramento GM Geoff Petrie asked all three candidates (including Lakers assistant Kurt Rambis) if the team's set salary structure (two years at $1.5 million, a third year team option at $2 million) would work for them. If not, you know, see ya.
FanHouse is coming to you live from Phoenix, covering the 2009 NBA All-Star weekend.
The Bulls are taking their time with this whole "finding a coach" thing, interviewing just about anyone with a shred of interest in the job. According to Brian Hanley of the Chicago Sun-Times, John Paxson has already talked with ...deep breath ... Lakers assistants Brian Shaw and Kurt Rambis, current Jazz assistant Tyrone Corbin and former T'Wolves coach Dwane Casey -- and that's just this week! 
