Los Angeles Lakers: The post-playing legacy of the Showtime Lakers

EL SEGUNDO, CA - JULY 29: (L-R) Jamaal Wilkes, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Byron Scott, Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Mitch Kupchak pose for a picture during a press conference to introduce Byron Scott as the new head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers at Toyota Sports Center on July 29, 2014 in El Segundo, California. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)
EL SEGUNDO, CA - JULY 29: (L-R) Jamaal Wilkes, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Byron Scott, Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Mitch Kupchak pose for a picture during a press conference to introduce Byron Scott as the new head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers at Toyota Sports Center on July 29, 2014 in El Segundo, California. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)
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(Photo by Matteo Marchi/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers
(Photo by Matteo Marchi/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers

Kurt Rambis’s post-Los Angeles Lakers career:

Kurt Rambis has maintained a deep connection with the Los Angeles Lakers organization and served many different roles throughout the years.

His not(rather than post)-playing career in Los Angeles began in 1994 when he was briefly hired as Special Assistant Coach before returning to active duty as a player. After his retirement in 1995, he became Assistant Coach of Del Harris and was named Interim Head coach in 1999 after Harris got fired.

The following season the Lakers famously hired Hall of Fame coach Phil Jackson and Rambis transitioned to the Assistant General Manager position. A year later he returned as an assistant to Phil Jackson and maintained his role beyond Jackson’s tenure, lasting enough to see the Zen Master return at the command.

In 2009, Clark Kent left LA to become Head Coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves. In total he had won three championships as an Assistant Coach.

In the 2013-14 season he returned once again to assist Mike D’Antoni, with the assignment to mediate between him and the front office, and he left again one year later for New York City.

In 2018, the new President of Basketball Operations Magic Johnson hired Rambis as Senior Basketball Advisor, and so he remains to these days, even after Magic’s resignation.

He holds an unclear power in the decision-making along with his wife Linda, which is rumored to be major thanks to their connection to owner Jeanie Buss.