Locker-Room Motivation Not for Rambis

So what kind of style will Kurt Rambis employ as a head coach? Will he be the strong, silent, intense type he has always been? Or will he suddenly emerge today as a yelling, screaming motivator, trying to fire up his players before their showdown against the Utah Jazz?

Prediction: Don’t look for any fire and brimstone. Kurt Rambis is definitely not a Pat Riley wannabe.

Riley, the former Laker coach who gave Rambis his chance to break into the Laker starting lineup in the 1981-82 season, was known for his locker-room histrionics. He would throw a glass of ice or a chair during pregame meetings to jar his players.

Rambis laughed when thinking of one such incident. Riley had picked up a chair and tried to throw it, only to discover the chair weighed a lot more than he had thought. It took all of Riley’s strength to move the chair a couple of feet.

“That might have motivated me after I was done laughing,” Rambis said.

Rambis figures today’s game won’t hinge on a pep talk.

“I would hate to think,” he said, “that I would have to do something to get the players up for this game.”

*

Laker forward Kobe Bryant had tape on his right wrist Saturday after bruising it in Friday night’s victory over the Seattle SuperSonics, but he said it won’t affect his shooting today.

“Nothing will stop me from shooting,” he said.

TODAY

at Utah

3 PST, Channel 4

* Site--Delta Center, Salt Lake City.

* Radio--KLAC (570).

* Records--Lakers 12-6, Jazz 13-3.

* Record vs. Jazz--0-1.

* Update--Since firing coach Del Harris and signing forward Dennis Rodman, the Lakers are unbeaten, having won their sixth in a row Friday night. But the Jazz still has the better record. Some other numbers don’t favor the Lakers. They are only 4-4 on the road, and Utah is 8-0 at home.