I interviewed him by phone, years ago, when he was running some company that made boxes. We talked for a while about what it took to be a champion. He sounded pretty passionate. Then I asked him if he missed the NBA. His response was immediate: "Don't miss the game. Just miss the money."
But then you take a look at his career -- his next move was to take over the worst team in the WNBA, which is rich in basketball and light on money -- there must be some basketball passion there. Even if you see the WNBA as a stepping stone to the NBA, that's still a move you don't make without some basketball passion to sustain you.
In today's New York Times, Jere Longman describes life on the Shock under Laimbeer:
"Functionally dysfunctional," is how the team spokesman John Maxwell jokingly refers to the Shock. In this environment, the versatile forward Swin Cash is called Crackhead by Mahorn for what he perceives as her occasional aimlessness. Fair game are Laimbeer's style of walking ("On his toes, like the Flintstones," guard Elaine Powell said.) and his favored wardrobe of short-shorts and boating shirts ("One of his pants are so tight they look like leg warmers," Cash said).
During the preseason, guard Shannon Johnson had a stomach virus and pulled a blanket over her head to take a nap in the airport in Dallas. Big mistake. When she awakened, Mahorn and others had thrown a few bucks into a change cup and Johnson's teammates had fashioned signs that said, "Will Shoot for Food" and "War Veteran - AWOL."
He isn't all barbs, though -- Longman also tells of Laimbeer moving practice times to accomodate Swin Cash's career as a sports journalist. He reportedly helped Katie Smith find a condominium that would take her large dog, and took the whole team fishing. And ... in what may not have been all that friendly after all, on his birthday it is said he took the team to a piano bar where he regaled hundreds with his version of "Piano Man."
Whatever he's serving up, his players seem to respond. The Shock became the best team in the WNBA shortly after he arrived.
So, can it be that long before he makes it to the NBA? Remember, he almost got the job coaching the Knicks a few years ago. Longman reports that he heard from Chuck Daly that Isiah Thomas wishes he had hired Laimbeer:
Reflecting upon the Larry Brown fiasco with the Knicks, Daly said, Thomas told him, "I should have hired Laimbeer; he's so thick-skinned."
