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Knicks' Rambis doesn't want to be judged by awful record

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Kurt Rambis hasn't done much to improve his NBA coaching record with the Knicks.Julie Jacobson/AP

Kurt Rambis hasn’t done much to improve his NBA coaching record with the Knicks.

LOS ANGELES — Phil Jackson wants nothing more than to be defined by his coaching record. The man, after all, wrote a book called “Eleven Rings.” Kurt Rambis, however, doesn’t want to be defined by his record, especially a 32-132 mark over two seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

“We’re all judged by our record,” Rambis said on Saturday. “Sometimes that’s right and sometimes that’s extremely wrong.”

On Friday, Jackson made a case for Rambis, who replaced Derek Fisher on an interim basis last month, to become the full-time Knicks head coach. Jackson, unsolicited, brought up the elephant in the room: Rambis’ record in Minnesota and said it puts a “black mark on his coaching ability at first glance” before providing several examples of why Rambis is a good coach.

The implication is that Jackson isn’t just selling Rambis to the players, fans and media but he’s speaking directly to Garden chairman James Dolan, who would likely have to sign off on the hiring.

“You’ve got some coaches in the league who had and have great records win-losses wise, but they may not be doing as good a coaching job as somebody who had a poor record,” Rambis said. “The circumstances are different, the talent is different. You have to look at each individual situation and look what was going on and measure a coach by what you see out there on the court, what the players are doing and what are they capable of doing and not just wins and losses.”

The Knicks are 4-9 under Rambis entering Sunday’s game against the Kobe Bryant and the Lakers. With the Knicks technically still alive for a playoff berth, Rambis has sacrificed the development of young players for the sake of winning. Also, finishing strong allows Jackson to make a more compelling case to keep Rambis, his long-time friend.

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When asked about Jackson publicly endorsing him for the job, Rambis said: “I’m not denying it does help. But I feel I have good relationships with all the players. They want to do the right things, they play hard and they’re fighting for each other and fighting for the team. That’s important when the players are buying in and they want to do the right things.”

Rambis was hired by Jackson to join Fisher’s staff and after Jackson made the coaching change he revealed that Fisher wasn’t relying enough on Rambis and veteran assistant Jim Cleamons. It was an odd statement since the head coach is not required to follow the advice of any of his assistant. Plus, the highly regarded Brian Keefe was Fisher’s top lieutenant.

Jackson’s comments raised questions about whether the staff was on the same page and whether Fisher was getting the proper support from the coach who eventually replaced him.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that we were fully supportive of Derek,” Rambis said. “We all were.”

Rambis also admitted that he “should have reached out to (Derek) at some point in time” rather than allow rumors that the coaching staff may have been fractured to linger.

Fisher had alienated several members of the team’s support staff and in some cases stripped them of their power. Fisher felt it was necessary in order to change the culture of a losing franchise. It turned into a messy turf war that Fisher, whose intentions were good, eventually lost.

Keefe is a rising star who after making a name for himself in Oklahoma City had established a strong relationship with Kevin Durant. Promoting Keefe may have given the Knicks a better chance of landing Durant. It is similar to 2001 when Jeff Van Gundy stepped down and the Knicks decided to promote Don Chaney instead of a relatively unknown assistant coach. That assistant was Tom Thibodeau.

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