Rambis's fall hard to forget

Foul has place in teams' history

The trademark black horn-rimmed glasses he wore and were popularized by his legion of fans, the "Rambis Youth," were gone. But Kurt Rambis still had an unmistakable, if not youthful, gleam in his eye as he sat courtside at TD Banknorth Garden prior to last night's Game 1 of the NBA Finals and recalled the part he played in the Lakers' storied rivalry with the Celtics.

"A small part," said Rambis, 50, now an assistant to Lakers coach Phil Jackson. "I was just one of the components, one of the players. I don't know what to say about that. I was one of the pieces of the puzzle that helped this team win."

For many around these parts, though, Rambis's role was larger than he let on. After all, Rambis was the recipient of a message Kevin McHale and the rest of the Celtics, who faced a 2-1 deficit in the 1984 Finals, seemed to send in Game 4 at the Forum, when McHale clotheslined Rambis as he attempted to convert a third-quarter fast break. Rambis hit the deck hard, landing on his back.

Although they trailed at the time, 76-70, the Celtics won the game, 129-125, in overtime, and the series, 4-3, with McHale's hard foul on Rambis largely viewed as a flash point.

"To some who want to make it that way [it might have been], but I didn't view it as such," Rambis said. "I was really fortunate at that time that I didn't get hurt. It really was something in basketball that you just don't do.

"In some ways, it was the physical act of a coward at that time. If you want to combat somebody, you do it face to face. A lot of people say it turned the series around, but I didn't see it as such. It didn't change my mental approach to the games or the series."

Rambis, who did two tours with the Lakers from 1981-88 and 1993-95, with stops in Charlotte (1988-90), Phoenix (1990-92), and Sacramento (1993) in between, before he retired in 1995, said he has not spoken to McHale since.

"But it has nothing to do with that," Rambis said. "It's just that our paths don't cross. There's certain players I've played against, not necessarily the Celtics, I'd see Doc [Rivers] a little more, just because we were coaching. When Kevin was coaching with Minnesota, our paths didn't cross then. Now that he's the general manager, it's rare that your path will cross with the general manager. It has nothing to do with that circumstance."

With this rivalry being renewed in the Finals, did Rambis wince when seeing replays of the incident? "No, I don't wince on the rare occasion that I do see it," he said.

Did it give birth to the Rambis Youth? "No," Rambis said with a laugh. "They were flying strong way before that."

And now? "They're the 'Rambis Elders.' Some of 'em, I get remote contact from them. Some of them have families of their own," he said.

Rambis chuckled when asked if he had ever been invited to attend a Rambis Youth gathering.

"No reunions, no conventions, none of those things," he said.

Certainly, though, when the Celtics defeated the Pistons in Eastern Conference finals to earn their first Finals berth since 1987, it caused a torrent of memories to come flooding back for Rambis.

"It was such a unique, fun time to be playing basketball in the NBA," he recalled. "The popularity of the league was growing immensely at that time in the '80s, and the rivalry that developed over the years with the success of the franchises. It just had almost all of the components that you could possibly imagine: franchises with storied pasts, teams with exceptional leaders, All-Stars on their team, Hall of Famers on their team, deep benches, East Coast-West Coast contrasting styles of play.

"You could go on and on about what made the battles in the Finals so unique and so charismatic, not only for the players but the fans, as well. It was a great, competitive environment for the players to play in; you had terrific teams, incredible individuals and matchups, and it made playing basketball at that time really extraordinary."

Michael Vega can be reached at vega@globe.com.