Western Conference Playoff Notebook : Rambis Doesn’t Get In and May Be on His Way Out

Are the Lakers phasing out forward Kurt Rambis?

Rambis, who lost his starting job earlier this season, has virtually disappeared in the Lakers’ NBA Western Conference final series against the Seattle SuperSonics.

Rambis sat out the Lakers’ 122-121 win over the Seattle on Saturday. It was the first time since his rookie season in 1981-82 that he missed a game because of a coaches’ decision.

“I have no comment,” Rambis said when asked why he didn’t play Saturday.

Rambis didn’t score and grabbed just three rebounds in 15 minutes in the first two games of the series. He had two rebounds in 10 minutes in the first game and he grabbed one rebound in five minutes in the second game.

Rambis hasn’t attempted a shot from the floor in the series. He has taken seven shots in his last 83 minutes in the playoffs.

Rambis’ scoring and rebounding average have decreased as the Lakers have advanced in the playoffs. He averaged 10 points and 6.7 rebounds in the Lakers’ three-game sweep of Denver in the first round of the playoffs, and averaged 4.8 points and 4.4 rebounds in their five-game series against Golden State.

Said Laker Coach Pat Riley: “Kurt’s a fixture on this team. Kurt’s going to get his time out there. I needed three guards out there because of the Sonics’ quickness.”

James Worthy, who is having the best playoff of his career, is eligible to renegotiate the last two years of his four-year, $2.65 million contract.

Worthy, who made $550,000 in the first year of the contract, made $575,000 this season. He is scheduled to make $625,000 next season and $900,000 for the 1988-89 season.

“I don’t think there’s any disagreement regarding Jerry Buss or myself that James is entitled to more (money),” Laker General Manager Jerry West said Sunday.

Worthy has scored 96 points in the first three games of the series against Seattle. The 39 points he scored Saturday was the most he’s scored since high school.

“Everyone’s focused on his scoring but James has done a tremendous job defensively on (Tom) Chambers,” West said.

Chambers had 28 points in the first game, but just 8 in Game 2 and 17 in Game 3. He missed his first five shots on Saturday, including two airballs.

“James is bigger than everyone thinks he is,” West said.

Worthy is listed as 6-9, but West says he’s 6-10.

“A.C. Green is 6-9,” West said. “When the two of them are on the court, look who’s bigger.”

Laker guard Michael Cooper became more acquainted with Chambers’ elbows than he cared to on Saturday.

“He nailed me three times,” Cooper said. “It’s gotten to the point where you almost have to look to the referee for help.

“I was just glad I didn’t get one in the face.”

The Lakers delayed the start of Sunday’s practice so they could watch the end of the Detroit-Boston playoff game on television.

However, the Lakers said they aren’t looking past the SuperSonics to the NBA championship series.

Asked why he delayed practice, Riley said: “I did it so we could have a chance for more preparation and rest. I wanted to take a long look at the films (of Saturday’s game) and give the players a chance to rest.

“The Sonics are down, but they’re probably going to play the game of their life. If anybody on this team says we just have to win one out of four games, we’ll probably have to play four games.”

Said Magic Johnson: “We celebrated a little too early (against Golden State) and they made us pay the price.

“We know it’s 3-0, but we haven’t won four games yet. We still have another job to do. This team is different than most teams. We don’t drink champagne until we win it all.”

Magic said he’s rooting for his friend Isiah Thomas and the Pistons in the playoffs.