Kurt Rambis

Time Warner Cable SportsNet has added Kurt Rambis to the broadcast crew for select Lakers games this season. Rambis has a rich history with the organization, as a player during the Showtime era, assistant coach and even head coach (albeit briefly). The Lakers' first official broadcast, not including preseason, will be on Oct. 30 when the Lakers visit the Portland Trail Blazers. Rambis will join "#LakeShow," in studio with Chris McGee, Andy Adler, James Worthy and Dave Miller.

Kurt Rambis, former NBA coach and Lakers player and now an on-air analyst with ESPN and Time Warner Cable SportsNet, spoke to Times reporter Lisa Dillman about the team's poor 9-11 record. A less-than-ideal start "You can just see the weight on everybody. When the losses mounted and then in typical L.A. fashion, there were a multitude of stories that went out. It just adds to all the drama around here. But it also adds to the exposure that everybody has to live under and it all comes back to the expectation level of this team.

Mike Bresnahan covers the Lakers for The Times and ties up loose ends on the day of his self-designated "Game of the week." The Lakers play tonight against Minnesota. First, an explanation. I know, I know. Lakers-Timberwolves is the game of the week? The opponents are pretty weak this week — Golden State on Monday, Sacramento on Tuesday and Minnesota tonight — so why choose the Timberwolves? The Kurt Rambis factor. Few people know the Lakers better than Rambis, who was hired by the Timberwolves last August after 10 seasons as a Lakers assistant.

Steve Nash and longtime Lakers trainer Gary Vitti talked after the team's shoot-around Friday morning. It wasn't a quick, "Can you play tonight? Yes? Excellent. " Not a good sign for the Lakers. Nash missed a game for the first time with them, unable to recover from a bruised left shin and face the Clippers later in the day. The slow start continued for the player with the fifth-most assists in NBA history. Nash, 38, had seven points and four assists in his Lakers debut Tuesday against Dallas.

If Kurt Rambis truly is on his way out in Minnesota, as CBS Sports recently reported and the Timberwolves denied, the timing could be right for a Lakers-Rambis reunion. ? Brian Shaw probably hopes that Rambis stays put. ? Phil Jackson's successor, of course, will inherit a team that could be a three-time defending NBA champion. ? Kobe Bryant and his teammates continue trending upward. ? "Amidst all the wheeling and dealing by NBA general managers this season," reader Dean M. Smith of Juniper Hills e-mails to note, "we Laker fans were stuck with a do-nothing guy in Mitch Kupchak . And as such, he should be GM of the year.

Kurt Rambis was back in town, enduring a season that couldn't get much worse. Somehow his dry sense of humor remains intact while approaching the end of his second season as coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves. He eyed up a small group of reporters when it was time to start his pregame news briefing Friday at Staples Center. There was a slight pause. Nobody asked any questions. "Is that it?" he said wryly, breaking the brief silence and pretending to head back into the locker room.

Kurt Rambis was seen boarding a plane Wednesday morning to meet again with Minnesota Timberwolves officials, a strong sign that the Lakers assistant coach will be hired to coach the Timberwolves. Rambis has already had a second interview with Minnesota, and the only step left is to talk with team owner Glen Taylor, who has said publicly he would be the final part in the decision-making process. The longtime Laker has already met with new Timberwolves General Manager David Kahn.

Reporting from Minneapolis ? From afar, Minnesota Coach Kurt Rambis has kept an eye on the Lakers, watching the team he was an assistant coach for muddle through this season. When asked to evaluate the Lakers, Rambis acknowledged how difficult it probably is for them to "focus" and be as "driven" through an 82-game regular-season schedule. He was a member of Lakers Coach Phil Jackson's staff for six total years, including championship seasons of 2002 and 2009. Rambis mentioned how Matt Barnes' absence because of a right knee injury, Shannon Brown's up-and-down play that's "back on track now" and Steve Blake's recent improved play have been things the Lakers have had to deal with this season.

The Minnesota Timberwolves fired Kurt Rambis on Tuesday, ending more than three months of uncertainty and awkwardness surrounding the head coach of the worst team in the NBA last season. Rambis was 32-132 in his brief stay in Minnesota, including 17-65 last season. "People can argue about this should have happened and that should've happened, but I think collectively we felt that we were doing the right thing in terms of the way we approached it," team President David Kahn said.

It looked as if Kurt Rambis never left town. He stood on the Lakers' practice court Thursday in El Segundo and cracked jokes with Lakers assistant coach Brian Shaw, whittling away the time as players shot free throws after practice. In a window behind him, up over his right shoulder, stood a row of championship trophies, many of which he helped win as a player and later an assistant coach with the Lakers. Then Rambis turned to a guy wearing a wolf logo on his shirt and asked him to text some information.

Former Lakers forward and coach (head and assistant) Kurt Rambis has joined Time Warner Cable SportsNet to help provide in-studio analysis of the team in select games. In addition to working for ESPN as an analyst, Rambis was coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves prior to the arrival of Ricky Rubio and his successor Rick Adelman. "I'd like to get back into coaching, but it has to be a good situation," said Rambis in a phone interview.  "It has to be a positive situation, but I'm not going to freak out if I don't get back into coaching, because I do enjoy broadcasting.

Time Warner Cable SportsNet has added Kurt Rambis to the broadcast crew for select Lakers games this season. Rambis has a rich history with the organization, as a player during the Showtime era, assistant coach and even head coach (albeit briefly). The Lakers' first official broadcast, not including preseason, will be on Oct. 30 when the Lakers visit the Portland Trail Blazers. Rambis will join "#LakeShow," in studio with Chris McGee, Andy Adler, James Worthy and Dave Miller.

The Lakers played their third preseason game with their superstar core having logged zero minutes together. Dwight Howard remained sidelined Saturday as he continued his recovery from back surgery, leaving Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash and Pau Gasol to resume the getting-to-know-you phase without their starting center. Bryant was back for the Lakers' exhibition game against the Utah Jazz at Staples Center after sitting out one game with a strained right shoulder, but the possibility lingered that Howard may not return before the Oct. 30 season opener against Dallas.

He's Josh McRambis Instead of the thick glasses, he wears the high socks. Instead of tight shorts, he wears a crew cut. But the tough rebounds and smart passes and old-school unselfishness are the same. "I want to make the kind of plays where people in the locker room say, 'I want that guy on my team,' " he says. He's Josh McFly He reportedly has the Lakers' highest vertical leap, he once finished second in a national All-Star high school dunk contest, and his first basket in his first exhibition game here was at the business end of an ally-oop.

Kurt Rambis isn't a very good beach volleyball player. "I'm awful," he says, laughing. But the former Lakers forward and NBA coach's son, Jesse, is pretty good — a professional, even. On Friday at the Manhattan Beach Open, Jesse Rambis and his partner, Kevin Wong, the second-seeded team in the tournament, beat Travis Schoonover and Nils Nielson, 21-19, 19-21, 15-8, to advance to the third round. Wong is a Lakers fan, especially of the Showtime teams the elder Rambis played for, but Wong was pretty impressed with the junior Rambis after playing alongside him for the first time Friday.

The Minnesota Timberwolves fired Kurt Rambis on Tuesday, ending more than three months of uncertainty and awkwardness surrounding the head coach of the worst team in the NBA last season. Rambis was 32-132 in his brief stay in Minnesota, including 17-65 last season. "People can argue about this should have happened and that should've happened, but I think collectively we felt that we were doing the right thing in terms of the way we approached it," team President David Kahn said.

There are so many great players in the NBA that I feel there should be some awards in addition to MVP. I suggest an award for most talented player (MTP), and one for the hardest working player (HWP). Of course, Kurt Rambis has the latter category nailed down. CHARLES STERNS Santa Barbara

Seize the opportunity, or wait for a better deal? That was the question for Kurt Rambis as he considered whether to accept a head coaching position with the Minnesota Timberwolves, or to wait indefinitely in hope of becoming Phil Jackson's successor with the Lakers. Despite spending 10 seasons as an assistant to the Lakers, Rambis chose the former option. He accepted a deal believed to be at least three years to become the franchise's ninth head coach, succeeding Kevin McHale , who clotheslined him during the 1984 NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics.

Venus Williams lost to Daniela Hantuchova , 6-2, 5-7, 6-2, in the quarterfinals at Eastbourne, England, on Thursday, exiting a day after her sister, Serena , was defeated but still pleased with her Wimbledon preparation in her return to tennis. Both sisters are back after lengthy injury breaks. Venus was playing her first event in five months since retiring because of hip and abdominal injuries during the Australian Open in January. Venus said she heads to Wimbledon with plenty of confidence as she targets a sixth title at the All England Club.