Another one of those semi-annual “when will Bill Laimbeer get an NBA coaching gig?” stories, this one from the Indianpolis Star’s Bob Kravitz.
Wll the NBA be ready for Laimbeer? He’s an oversized personality who would be moving to a league filled with oversized personalities — and bank accounts and egos to match.
“With the ladies, I can ride them a little more, challenge them, yell at them,” he said after his Detroit Shock beat the Fever 68-56 in Game 1 on Thursday night. “On the men’s side, they don’t take too kindly to that. You’ve got to be a lot more subdued. Even if you want to go ballistic and lose your brain, you can’t, because the players will shut down. It’s more of a stomach problem in the NBA than it is here.”
So why, he was asked, does he still dream of coaching in the NBA?
He shot his interrogator the kind of you’ve-got-to-be-kidding look most often reserved for erring referees.
“A lot more zeroes,” he said. “A lot more zeroes at the end of the paycheck.”
In a very short time, Laimbeer managed to mold this team into his image — which, if you’re Bird or anybody else who caught the business end of a Laimbeer elbow, ought to be a disturbing thought.
“Do they resemble me and take on the personality of the coach? I hope so,” Laimbeer said. “I was physical and I played to win every game. I wasn’t paid to play basketball; I was paid to win basketball games.
“The one thing I wish they were like me, that every minute of every game, they were as focused as I was on the task at hand. If they ever got to that point, oh my God, watch out, we’re the best basketball team in the world.”
Who else would come to Indiana and, when asked about Larry Bird, would say, “Never talked to him, never will. I don’t like him; he doesn’t like me”?
Were it not for an item on All Hip Hop.com, I’d be unaware that a) Atlanta now has a CBA franchise known as The Krunk and b) the team will be coached by former Knicks swingman Johnny Newman (above). There’s still a chance, I reckon, for a CBA expansion team called the Williamsburg Stupid Haircuts.