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Los Angeles Lakers senior basketball adviser Kurt Rambis has advocated for the team to utilize larger lineups featuring centers Dwight Howard and DeAndre Jordan, per Dan Woike and Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times.
The report does not specifically say whether Rambis was pitching the team on playing Howard and Jordan individually in bigger lineups or whether he believes they’d be a good fit on the court together.
Rambis played in the NBA from 1981-82 to 1994-95, including 10 seasons with L.A. He’s worked for the Lakers as an assistant general manager, assistant head coach, an interim head coach and a senior basketball adviser, winning nine NBA championship rings total (four as a player, two as an assistant coach, three as an executive).
According to Woike and Turner, Rambis has been involved in pregame coaches’ meetings virtually this season, but he attended his first one in person at Crypto.com Arena prior to Los Angeles’ 101-95 win over the Utah Jazz on Monday.
He and Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka also met with Lakers head coach Frank Vogel and assistant head coach David Fizdale after the team’s 125-116 loss to the Sacramento Kings last Wednesday.
L.A. has undoubtedly had a disappointing campaign, with the team 22-22 through 44 games. Bill Oram and Sam Amick of The Athletic reported Tuesday that Vogel’s job is in “serious jeopardy” and that he’s being evaluated on a game-by-game basis.
Woike reported later in the day that the team has “no current plans” to replace Vogel and added these notes:
L.A. had lost three straight games heading into the Jazz matchup, with the team losing by an average of 17 points during that span. A win over the 29-15 Jazz assuredly brings about some relief, but L.A. is still mired in seventh in the Western Conference just two years after winning a championship.
The Lakers have opted for more smaller lineups as big man Anthony Davis works his way back from an MCL sprain, with LeBron James notably spending time at center. Howard (15.1 minutes per game) and Jordan (13.0 MPG) notably haven’t seen much time at all, with the veteran centers being shuffled in and out of lineups this year.
We’ll see if the Lakers and Vogel utilize Rambis’ reported opinions. For now, the Lakers will look to move back over .500 on Wednesday against the Indiana Pacers.
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