Timberwolves pay emotional tribute to late Flip Saunders before home opener
Before Monday’s home opener against the Portland Trail Blazers, the Minnesota Timberwolves paid tribute to late head coach, president of basketball operations and part-owner Flip Saunders, who died on Oct. 25 at age 60 after a battle with Hodgkin lymphoma, by honoring his memory and contributions with a touching pregame video package and live musical performance.
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A host of NBA luminaries — including Commissioner Adam Silver, a slew of Saunders’ coaching peers (Stan Van Gundy, Pat Riley, Doc Rivers, Phil Jackson, George Karl, Steve Kerr, Gregg Popovich, Larry Bird, Dave Joerger, Randy Wittman, P.J. Carlesimo), several of his former players (Sam Cassell, Kevin Love, Chauncey Billups, Mark Madsen, John Wall), and numerous journalists and commentators who covered Saunders over the years — joined current Timberwolves players, coaches and staffers in discussing what Flip meant to them, and the tremendous additions he made to the game of basketball during the course of a coaching career that spanned five decades.
After the video was broadcast in Target Center, Minneapolis singer-songwriter Tim Mahoney performed a cover of the Leonard Cohen classic “Hallelujah,” accompanied by the vocal/instrumental ensemble Sounds of Blackness and cellist Rebecca Arons, as the teams and fans in the stands watched photos from Saunders’ life in basketball scroll on the big screen above the court at Target Center:
The presentation clearly struck a chord with 2015 No. 1 overall pick Karl-Anthony Towns, who spoke eloquently last week about the challenge of moving on without the man who built the Timberwolves roster and shaped the organization. From USA TODAY Sports’ Pat Borzi:
“You can see we’re hurting,” said Karl-Anthony Towns, the No. 1 overall pick in Saunders’ final draft. “We lost our point guard. We lost the person who runs this whole machine. I know when we found out, it was a hard moment for all of us, a moment I don’t think I’ll ever forget.
“And I think the ones that had the most emotion of all of them was the veterans. They had the longest time with Flip. I was blessed to have the short time I had with him, to meet him and be in his presence, talk to him, touch him, laugh with him. But it doesn’t resemble the amount of significance he had with the veterans.”
No Wolves veteran had a closer, longer-tenured relationship with Saunders than Kevin Garnett. The future Hall of Famer broke into the NBA under Saunders’ watch as a teenager 20 seasons ago, and his return to Minnesota earlier this year came after Saunders sold him on ending his career where he started it. After learning of Saunders’ passing, Garnett left the practice court, walked straight to the parking garage at the practice facility and sat down in the coach’s parking spot.
Garnett has mostly declined comment in the aftermath of Saunders’ passing, saying only briefly last week that the Wolves “are all carrying each other and holding each other up […] Tough week for all of us, but we’re managing.” Sometimes, though, a picture can say 1,000 words.
The Wolves also debuted the special patch they’ll wear on their jerseys this season to honor Saunders’ memory before taking the court in search of their third win of the young campaign.
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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