Kurt Rambis hires Bill Laimbeer

NBA Obsessed takes you into the hit and run game of NBA Basketball.

Bill Laimbeer came out of the California high school system as a center and played at Notre Dame. He was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers. After playing in Italy for a season, Bill returned to Cleveland and played two years before being traded to the Isiah Thomas led Detroit Pistons.

While playing for the Pistons, Laimbeer teamed up with Rick Mahorn to win a NBA title and develop a reputation for meanness on the court. One of his favorite moves on post defense was to swipe his hand down to rake your arm as you tried to turn to shoot. He did it in a way that was mostly hidden from the referees. It drove players crazy.

Bill Laimbeer NBA factoid: Bill Laimbeer and his Detroit teammates are the only players to have a playoff winning record against NBA legends Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and Michael Jordan. source

Still Bill was more than that or he would not have lasted or played on the Pistons as they won a second title without Rick Mahorn. The Pistons became known as the Bad Boys because of their aggressive defense that was played in a very physical style. After the two titles the NBA changed several of their rules to tone down the defense.

There is Bill Laimbeer, but can he guard Barack Obama?

Bill was amazingly competitive and a top notch darts player. One year he announced he would win the rebounding title and then went out and did it. He was a 4 time All Star.

After the NBA there were no takers for Bill’s coaching services. It was often stated they only remembered him by reputation and did not want him around. Bill began coaching in the WNBA for the Detroit Shock and won 3 titles in 6 years. Again no NBA coaching offers came to him. Finally he quit the Shock with the stated intention to become an NBA coach.

Now along comes Kurt Rambis from the Los Angeles Lakers and hires Bill Laimbeer to be his assistant on the Minnesota Timberwolves.

New Timberwolves coach Kurt Rambis will add former Detroit Pistons bad-boy center Bill Laimbeer and former Sacramento Kings coach Reggie Theus to his staff, according to a league source.
source

Image: Zuma Press

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As always, any NBA Basketball related comments are welcome.

More blogs about basketball.