As they continue to prepare for the upcoming season, the Los Angeles Lakers have announced that they've hired veteran coaches Kurt Rambis and Johnny Davis to their staff as assistant coaches, the team said Monday.
Rambis, an ESPN analyst, will rejoin the team after serving as an assistant coach between 1999 and 2009. He has eight championship rings as a player, coach and front-office executive.
"Kurt is a great basketball mind, extremely good at working with big men and his experience as a head coach in this league is going to prove very helpful to our staff," Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni said in a statement.
Rambis also had some kind words about his friend D'Antoni as well.
"Mike and I have known each other for a long period of time," Rambis told ESPNLosAngeles.com on Monday when asked how the job under D'Antoni came about. "We were coaches in a basketball camp many years ago in Phoenix. The NBA used to have a camp there for draftees and potential draftees that we worked out, so we've known each other for a long time. It was a comfortable environment for Mike to just come up and ask if I was interested in getting back into coaching and if I was interested in getting back involved with the Lakers."
Rambis said former Lakers coach Phil Jackson was in favor of the move.
"We're still friends," Rambis said of Jackson. "We still talk basketball. He's back in Montana. He's got a lot of family and friends back there now, so he's dealing with an awful lot of people at his homes there. So, he's focusing on them. But, he thinks this is a great opportunity for me and he's excited about it."
Rambis added:
"I'm here to support Mike," Rambis said. "It doesn't mean that I won't talk to everybody and anybody about basketball. I've done that my entire life. I don't think anybody knows everything about basketball. There's always good ideas, even if it's just drills for practices. So, it's always good to talk basketball with people. I think whenever you're a coach at any level in any situation, the more conversations you have with different people -- especially successful people -- it only benefits you."
As for Davis, he'll bring more than 20 years of NBA coaching experience to the Lakers.
"Johnny is a two-time NBA head coach with years of experience playing as well as coaching in this league," D'Antoni said. "The vast array of NBA knowledge he brings to the table will be invaluable to us."
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