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El Segundo, Calif. • Kurt Rambis is returning to the Los Angeles Lakers' coaching staff as an assistant to Mike D'Antoni.
The Lakers hired former NBA head coaches Rambis and Johnny Davis on Monday to fill out D'Antoni's coaching staff for his second season with the club.
Rambis was a key role player and a bespectacled fan favorite for the Lakers during the "Showtime" era. He has been associated with the team in various capacities for three decades, including a brief stint as the head coach.
He served as an assistant coach from 1994-99, 2001-04 and 2005-09, helping to guide the team to two NBA titles and four Finals appearances during coach Phil Jackson's tenure. Rambis went 24-13 as the Lakers' head coach during the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season, and he spent two stints in the Lakers' front office.
"Kurt is a great basketball mind, extremely good at working with big men, and his experience as a head coach in this league is going to prove very helpful to our staff," D'Antoni said.
Rambis was thought to be a possible heir to Jackson before leaving to take over the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2009. Rambis was fired in 2011 after going 32-132 in two seasons with the rebuilding franchise.
Around the league
Unrestricted NBA free agent Daniel Gibson surrendered to police Monday to face a second-degree battery charge. Gibson is accused of breaking another man's jaw with a punch during an argument at a nightclub on July 8, New Orleans Police spokeswoman Remi Braden said. Gibson's wife, Keyshia Cole, sang at the Essence Festival on July 6. Online court records show he was released on $20,000 bond.
Mavericks • Dallas has signed first-round pick Shane Larkin, who is likely out until training camp in October with a broken right ankle. Larkin is slotted to make $1.28 million in the point guard's first season under the rookie salary scale. The Mavericks traded down twice in the draft and ended up with the rights to Larkin, the son of Hall of Fame shortstop Barry Larkin. He was taken 18th by Atlanta.
Rockets • Houston has signed veteran free agent center Marcus Camby. It is the second stint for Camby in Houston after he played for the Rockets in 2012. The 39-year-old played 19 games for Houston that season and averaged 7.1 points and 9.3 rebounds. He was shipped to the New York Knicks by the Rockets in July 2012.