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.''
That was in August when Timberwolves president David Kahn finally completed his epic search for a coach, and Rambis was introduced as the replacement for, yes, McHale. So perhaps 25 years after McHale, a Boston star, clocked Rambis in the NBA Finals, Rambis knocked out McHale.
But it will be a different Rambis on display when he makes his Timberwolves debut in Wednesday's opener against New Jersey. The glasses are long gone, with Rambis having Lasik eye surgery a decade ago, and he laments that, with summer having long disappeared in Minnesota, his tan is going as well.
Yet there are some things unchanged. What made a Rambis a feisty overachiever while playing in the NBA from 1981-95, including nine seasons with the Lakers, he has brought to being a head coach.
Call him the Minneapolis Laker. "I'm excited about this opportunity,'' said Rambis, who was the Lakers' head coach for most of the 1998-99 lockout season and for much of the past decade was a Phil Jackson assistant with the Lakers. "It's going to be a challenge. We know we're a few years away. We know we're a few pieces away to get this team and this organization back to where we want it to be. But we have goal, and we want to do everything we can to achieve that goal of some day winning a championship.''
Rambis knows about titles. He won rings with the Lakers in 1982, 1985, 1987 and 1988, providing a blue-collar element to "Showtime.'' He was in the Lakers' front office for championships in 2000 and 2001 and on the bench with Jackson for titles in 2002 and last season.
Many believed Rambis would be the eventual successor to Jackson, who is no guarantee to coach beyond this season, when his contract will have expired. But Lakers owner Jerry Buss offered no assurance that would happen, leading Rambis to pack up the few parkas he owns and head to a rebuilding situation in Minnesota.
"Phil already came out and said that's what he wanted to happen,'' Rambis said. "I talked to the owner about it see if some commitment could be made. But Dr. Buss wants Phil to coach as long as he can. That commitment wasn't around the corner. I understand Dr. Buss not willing to make a commitment. This was an opportunity that came up right now so I had to take advantage of this opportunity in front of me.''Sacramento also courted Rambis during the summer to take over a similar rebuilding project. But Rambis declined an offer, and the job eventually went to Paul Westphal.
"I like the Maloofs (the team owners, brothers Gavin and Joe Maloof), but they were only willing to make a two-year (contract) commitment,'' Rambis said. "I just felt that it was going to take longer.''
It's going to take a while in Minnesota. But Kahn was able to lure Rambis away with a four-year contract worth about $8 million, with a team option for a fifth year.
"I don't think you can ask somebody to go into a rebuilding situation, knowing it's going to take several years (with a long-term deal),'' Kahn said. "I want him to be the coach of this team during the rebuilding period and then some and beyond. That's why length of term was so important.''
So was taking time in making a decision. McHale was relieved as coach June 17 and Rambis wasn't introduced by the Timberwolves until Aug. 11.
"I wanted to be thorough,'' Kahn said. "There was no reason to rush it. You could make an argument it's the most important decision I'll make for a long time, and I felt more than doing it fast, we needed to do it right. And I think we got it right.''
The Timberwolves went 24-58 last season. Even equaling that mark could be tough.
Sent to Washington for the No. 5 pick in last June's draft were veterans Randy Foye and Mike Miller. It remains to be seen the wisdom of that move since the pick was used on point guard Ricky Rubio, who has elected to remain in Spain at least for the next two years.
Minnesota, though, did take another point guard with the No. 6 pick in Flynn, 20. He's looked good while seizing the starting job.
Just about wherever Flynn looks, there is additional youth. Jefferson, the team's top player, might be entering his sixth season, but he's just 24.
Joining Jefferson in the post is second-year man Kevin Love, 21. Well, Love eventually will be joining Jefferson considering he's out until at least late November due to a broken hand.
"You just move forward. It's all just a little blip,'' Rambis said.
That's because Rambis knows it will be a long journey to turn around the Timberwolves. At least Rambis, 51, believes he is much better prepared to be a head coach than he was when he unexpectedly took over the Lakers during the chaotic lockout season, going 24-13 with a team that would win the next three NBA titles under Jackson.
"I like challenges,'' Rambis said of why leading the young Timberwolves appealed to him. "I like the pieces in this team very much. Al Jefferson is one of the best back-to-the-basket players that's in the NBA. Jonny Flynn has a chance to be very special point guard. I'm excited about the possibly of Ricky Rubio. I love Kevin Love. He's so talented in many areas. (The length of contract) gives me the time, when we have all the pieces that we've added, to develop and grow this team and turn it around.''
To help with the cause, it looks as if Rambis is auditioning for the show I Love the 80s. To fill two of his assistant coaching spots, he brought in a pair of other mainstays from the 1980s in feisty center Bill Laimbeer, a four-time All-Star, and flamboyant forward Reggie Theus, a two-time All-Star.
In describing Rambis, Theus uses the word "astute.'' Laimbeer calls the head coach "meticulous.''
"He knows what he's looking for with the exactness of his scouting reports and his attention to detail,'' Laimbeer said.
Rambis, who is implementing portions of Jackson's triangle offense in Minnesota, spent his first seven NBA seasons playing under Pat Riley and the bulk of this decade coaching under Jackson. It's hard not to learn from those two, who have combined to have coached 15 of the past 28 NBA champions.
"He's using the mentality from back in the day when he played for his coaching philosophy from the standpoint that he played hard and expects his players to play hard,'' said Timberwolves forward Brian Cardinal. "He expects everybody to give it their all.''
While playing for the Lakers, the 6-foot-8 Rambis was a gritty, hard-working forward. But in a city where flashy players always have been the most loved, Rambis gained cult status due to his hustling nature and because he wore glasses on the court.These weren't googles, mind you. They were nerdy glasses.
"It was born out necessity,'' said Rambis, who said he never liked the feel or the vision he got with contact lenses. "When I was kid, I wanted to play sports and I couldn't see without glasses. But my dad was always taking me to the store because I was always breaking my glasses. Then one time we went to the store and he found this indestructible pair of glasses. He stuck these on my face and said, 'You wear these all the time.'''
Soon born out of that was "Rambis Youth,'' a group of youngsters who showed up at games wearing horn-rimmed glasses similar to the ones donned by their hero. To this day, there's the Website www.kurtrambis.com that professes to be "uniting Kurt Rambis fans around the world.''
"I took it as a compliment,'' Rambis said of the cult status he attained. "But I didn't wear (glasses) for that. I just wore them so I could play.''
Minnesota wasn't even in the league during Rambis' heyday with the Lakers. But Rambis said the "older set of people'' in the area "remember me with the glasses.''
But so do some of his younger players. And they don't hesitate to rib him about it.
Chris Tomasson can be reached at tomasson@fanhouse.com.
