Rambis Celebrates His New Place in the Sun

With his long hair, snarling mustache and Clark Kent-like glasses, Kurt Rambis used to be the one NBA player Phoenix Suns fans loved to hate. Now, he’s on their team.

Rambis, obtained in a trade Wednesday with Charlotte, joined the Suns on Thursday night and said he is glad to get away from the struggling Hornets.

“When they called me in and told me I was traded, I wasn’t that thrilled about it. But when they told me I was going to Phoenix, I had to control myself from jumping up and down,” Rambis said. “I couldn’t be happier. I like the sun. There is where I feel at home.”

Rambis, a 6-foot-8, 213-pound power forward, signed with the expansion Hornets as an unrestricted free agent on July 28, 1988.

Charlotte, 20-62 last season, fell to 3-17 this year with Thursday night’s 105-101 loss at Washington.

“Losing all the time was getting old. It wears on you,” said Rambis, who played on four NBA championship teams in his seven years with the Lakers.

“I like to win. To be part of a winning situation again and maybe getting another ring is a very real possibility.”

Phoenix, off to a 7-10 start after going 55-27 last season, dealt power forward Armon Gilliam to the Hornets in exchange for Rambis and second-round draft picks in 1990 and 1991.

“The little I’ve seen the Suns play, they’re just a little out of sync. It’s nothing that can’t be corrected once they settle down,” Rambis said. “I’m going to provide as much hustle and intensity as I can. My role as long as I’ve been in the NBA is to play defense and rebound. I’ll start or come off the bench, play five minutes or 40 minutes--whatever the Suns want me to do. I’ve always been a team player.”

Phoenix Coach Cotton Fitzsimmons said Rambis will see plenty of action, beginning with tonight’s home game against Houston.

“He has a definite role for us. I’m not afraid to play him at defensive center or forward,” Fitzsimmons said. “We need more experience on this team. We’re struggling confidence-wise.” Rambis ranked 12th in the league last season with a 9.4 rebounding average per game and had a career-high 11.1-point scoring average.

He was averaging 9.1 points and 7.5 rebounds through 16 games this season with Charlotte and his playing time was starting to diminish.

“The Hornets want to build for the future, and there were only two or three players on that team who could get traded. I was one of them,” said Rambis. “I thought I’d get traded over the summer. I thought a trade was imminent. Then I was told I might spend the rest of my career in Charlotte.

“My wife and I had just settled into a new home there. But if Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the greatest player who ever played this game, can get traded, everybody is susceptible to be traded.”