NBA PLAYOFFS: WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS : Rambis, Eccentric as Laker, Is Source of Wisdom for Suns

Kurt Rambis as elder statesman once might have been a preposterous notion. He was considered too young and reckless, too free-thinking, too weird to be empowered with such an authoritative role.

Team leaders traditionally are serious, headstrong types who dispense advice gleaned from years of pounding the NBA courts. The lasting perception of Rambis is that he still has to ask what time the bus leaves and gives advice only about where to find the best burritos at Manhattan Beach.

Sometimes, however, people do not change so much as do their circumstances.

Rambis, by all accounts, still is a self-styled Californian who kiddingly asks reporters to recycle their notebooks after interviews. Although 31--an elder statesman in the NBA--Rambis says he basically is the same guy who spawned a cult following as a Laker.

But the young and impressionable Phoenix Suns have turned to Rambis for leadership. He is the Sun with the most playoff experience. He can use that Laker success as a reference point, and his ability to find irony in almost any situation has been a calming influence, especially during the Suns’ Western Conference finals against the Portland Trail Blazers.

Phoenix emulates his rugged work ethic, which has kept Rambis in the league for nine seasons, and the Suns listen when he decides to give advice.

“He really helped us just the other day,” guard Kevin Johnson said. “We were pretty down, and he said that losing two straight is not the end of the world as long as you don’t dwell on it.”

Not exactly the rousing speech you would expect from a team leader. But the Suns, who took Rambis’ advice and didn’t panic, have tied the series going into Game 5 tonight.

“I think I’ve been an influence on them, maybe in no other area than just to make them believe in themselves,” said Rambis, who has played in 133 playoff games. “That was the big mind-set with the Lakers and teams that win consistently. They just believe they should always win.

“It’s not so much what I say, although they ask me what it was like (with the Lakers). It’s more creating an atmosphere of confidence in which the younger guys are comfortable.”

Though usually quiet as a Laker, Rambis made a speech Jan. 1, two weeks after the Suns acquired him from the Charlotte Hornets for Armon Gilliam, that has been credited for turning around the Suns’ season.

Rambis stood before his teammates during a scheduled meeting at Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J., and told them they did not realize how talented they were. He called them underachievers and said that, with a little more effort and confidence, they could repeat last season’s rise in the West.

At the time, the Suns were 14-14. The next night, in New York, they became the first team to beat the Knicks in Madison Square Garden. The Suns went 40-14 from there to finish only a game behind last season’s record, despite injuries to several key players.

“I asked him to say something that day,” Coach Cotton Fitzsimmons said. “They respect Rambo because, first off, he works hard. But also because he’s been there. He has those rings.”

Rambis says now that too much has been made of that speech and of his new-found leadership role. But he seems to like it. Before the start of the playoffs, Rambis gave a team party. He also debunked the Laker mystique to his teammates, telling them not to be daunted merely because they hadn’t won in the Forum since 1984.

“I’m not really a leader-type,” Rambis said. “It’s easy to be that (elder statesman) when you show up and you’re the oldest guy on the team, when you were playing in the NBA before some guys even were in high school. That’s a sobering thought.”

But there is more than mere age at work. Rambis’ perspective helped young Suns such as Kevin Johnson, Dan Majerle and Jeff Hornacek keep going after Phoenix lost the first two games of this series.

“It’s just an attitude,” Rambis said. “I told them, ‘So what if we lost two straight? So what if we blew it? We messed up. We can’t cry and moan. So what if we lose? There’s no pressure on the Phoenix Suns to win. With the Lakers, anything less than winning the title every year was failure.’ ”

The Suns bought it. Rather than feeling the pressure of having to win Game 3 Friday, they came out loose and ready to run. They beat Portland by 34 points.

“The thing is,” Rambis says with a shrug, “in the playoffs, you can’t dwell on the past.”

Rambis seems to follow his own advice when speaking of his seven seasons with the Lakers and his brief stay in Charlotte. He has found his situation in Phoenix so appealing that his late-career change has worked out well.

In mid-December, Rambis was called in by Charlotte management. They told him he was traded. Rambis frowned at the possibility of going to Cleveland or some other cold-weather clime.

“When they told me where, I got real happy real fast,” Rambis said.

Gilliam, 25, was strictly an offensive player, and Fitzsimmons said the Suns needed a defensive rebounder and a physical forward to complement Tom Chambers, primarily an offensive player.

Rambis averaged only 5.4 points and 6.9 rebounds in 58 games with the Suns. When Fitzsimmons wants to run, Rambis often finds himself on the bench. But Rambis’ hustle has been invaluable.

“We hadn’t had a guy like him before,” Fitzsimmons said.

Rambis laughs and imitates Fitzsimmons’ gravelly voice when asked what the Suns’ coach expected of him.

“He said to me, ‘Kurt, I just want you to come in and play your game, just your type of game,’ ” Rambis said.

Rambis, bothered by a sore right foot most of the season, acknowledged that his game has changed. What he has lost physically--and Rambis says he has lost plenty--he has compensated for with his experience.

“It has to be more mental with me now, because I can’t do it physically anymore,” Rambis said. “Really. I can’t jump as high. I can’t run as fast, and I don’t feel as good the next day (after a game) as I used to. That’s changed.”

A lot has.

Whereas Rambis used to just do his job and mostly keep to himself on the Lakers, a team of strong personalities such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson, now teammates are looking to him for leadership.

“I’m happy here, as happy as I was with the Lakers,” he said.

Besides, Rambis’ cult following has followed him. Rambis Youth may have been replaced by Rambis Geezers, but sales of his horn-rimmed glasses are brisk and a recent best-selling T-shirt is “Rambis For Governor.”

Could that be Rambis’ next position of authority, now that he has this leadership business down?