Los Angeles Lakers: The reality of Kurt Rambis in the organization

Kurt Rambis seems to have a lot of influence within the Los Angeles Lakers organization right now, and while some people think that is a bad thing, Rambis is actually an asset.

A lot of people seem to be asking where, or how, Kurt Rambis is fitting into the Los Angeles Lakers current, for lack of a better word, reboot. I think there is a lot of misconception about the guy out there, at least it seems that way when I read comments people make on different stories that he is mentioned in.

At the time of this writing there still has been no “official” word about much of anything, just a ton of rumors and first, second and third guessing. So, the fact is that I have no idea where he is going to wind up in the big scheme of things as they start to develop.

But, I do know some things about Kurt Rambis, that either folks are overlooking, forgot or are possibly too young to know.

Let’s go back to Rambis as a player during the “Showtime” Lakers glory years. The dude was known as a hard as nails defensive dive bomber. Not even dive bomber, he was a full on “kamikaze” pilot. Totally willing to sacrifice himself over and over for a rebound or to disrupt some other teams’ superstar and create havoc and chaos upon all Lakers opponents.

He wore these “Clark Kent” glasses that were always taped together because they were always getting broken by some dudes’ elbow, head, knee or fist. Fans loved him to the point that he had a “Kurt Rambis Superman” fan club in the stands, full of kids dressed like him with the glasses and the whole deal.

He was not the best shooter on the team, but I can tell you that he was a huge part of the Lakers success during those years. Watching him on television, you got the idea he was a big muscled kinda dude, but if you ever saw him up close he was actually of a very slight build.

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I met him during a charity tennis event while he was still playing and my first comment was, “Wow, I thought you were bigger.”

Since then he has remained in the game in a number of coaching positions and advisory roles. He has worked with a lot of different people from Phil Jackson to Luke Walton. He is part of the “Laker family,” so to speak.

Now, to the point, I want to make here, through all of this he has been a growing sponge of basketball knowledge. He is not flashy or shiny like some of the names out there, but the man is a solid basketball guy who has a wealth of knowledge and skills to add to the stew.

It is to the team’s benefit to have him on board in whatever capacity that it might be. I see people comment in some sort of negative ways about him and I want to tell them that they are wrong. Kurt Rambis is an asset.

He deserves some love, or at least respect, from the fan base. The dude is a Laker.