Monday, August 24, 2009

The night Kurt Rambis was unstoppable

New Timberwolves coach Kurt Rambis is best known for two things: wearing glasses while playing, and being the victim of Kevin McHale's borderline criminal clothesline in Game 4 of the 1984 Finals.

He had a brief run as head coach of the Lakers in 1999, a season ultimately ruined by the appearance of Dennis Rodman. After the Lakers fired him and replaced him with Phil Jackson, Rambis loyally remained with the franchise and served as Jackson's top assistant for several years. He was rumored to be a leading candidate for the head coaching jobs in places like Sacramento, before ultimately landing with the Timberwolves this season. Well, at least he avoided the Clippers.

Maybe he'll help turn the Timerwolves around or maybe he'll make Randy Wittman look like a modern day Red Auerbach.

But Kurt will always have this night in 1988.

Inexplicably, in a first-round playoff game against the Spurs, Rambis - who averaged 5.2 more points per game in the NBA than I did - erupted for a playoff career high 19 points. Fifteen of the points came during a third quarter when Rambis displayed the post moves of Olajuwon, the dribble-drive locomotive force of LeBron, the leaping skills of Vince Carter, and the cutting skills of a young Havlicek. He made seven straight field goals during his 12 minutes of bizarre dominance. He capped it off with an amusing post-game interview, prominently featuring his mustache and self-deprecating humor.

The video proves two things: Rambis actually had more skill than you'd think considering his stats and specs, and an office chair could have averaged 8 points a game playing with Magic Johnson.

Timberwolves fans: Your new coach.

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