MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES FRANCHISE HISTORY
Previous Franchise Names: None
Principal Owner: Glen Taylor
CEO: Rob Moor
General Manager: Milt Newton
Head Coach: Sam Mitchell
Best Season: 2003-04 (58-24, .707)
Playoff Appearances: 8
NBA Championships: 0
UNITED STATES – OCTOBER 31: Basketball: Minnesota Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders, Kevin Garnett (21), and Sam Cassell (19) on sidelines during game vs New Jersey Nets, East Rutherford, NJ 10/31/2003 (Photo by Lou Capozzola/Sports Illustrated/Getty Images) (SetNumber: X69557 TK1)
The first NBA team to play in the Twin Cities won five titles in 12 seasons. Unlike the Minneapolis Lakers, things have not gone as well for the Minnesota Timberwolves since their entry into the league as an expansion club in 1989.
In 27 seasons, Minnesota has just seven winning records and both of their playoff series wins came in the same year, when they reached the Western Conference Finals in 2004.
Prior to that, the T-Wolves set a dubious NBA record with seven consecutive first-round postseason exits from 1997-2003.
Franchise icon Kevin Garnett won MVP honors in 2003-04 and holds most of the team’s major records, but Minnesota’s history breaks down into just three pieces—seven straight years out of the playoffs from 1989-96, eight straight trips to the postseason from 1997-2004 and 12 consecutive misses since.
Garnett teamed with young star Stephon Marbury in the late 1990s before the latter’s unhappiness with the gigantic contract given to the former led Minnesota to trade Marbury to the New Jersey Nets in March 1999.
Later, the trio of Garnett and veterans Sam Cassell and Latrell Sprewell couldn’t get the Wolves past the Los Angeles Lakers in 2004 and its been nothing but futility since then, including the arrival and departure of All-Star forward Kevin Love.
Flip Saunders had two tenures as head coach and is the only coach in team history with more than 100 wins, going 427-392 from 1995-96, when he replaced Bill Blair 20 games into the season, through 2004-05, when he was fired 51 games in, and again in 2014-15.
Saunders, whose playoff record with Minnesota was 17-30, was forced to step down for health reasons prior to the 2015-16 season and died on Oct. 25, 2015, at the age of 60.
Minnesota Timberwolves Career Leaders (as of 3/9/2016)
- Games, Kevin Garnett, 970
- Points, Kevin Garnett, 19201
- Rebounds, Kevin Garnett, 10718
- Assists, Kevin Garnett, 4216
- Steals, Kevin Garnett, 1315
- Blocks, Kevin Garnett, 1590
28 Nov 1997: Forward Kevin Garnett of the Minnesota Timberwolves stands on the court during a game against the Denver Nuggets at the McNichols Arena in Denver, Colorado. The Nuggets won the game 95-84.
Minnesota Timberwolves Retired Numbers
- 2, Malik Sealy
Minnesota Timberwolves Official Links
Official Team Site: nba.com/timberwolves
Official Twitter Handle: @timberwolves
Official Facebook Page: Minnesota Timberwolves
Official Instagram Page: Minnesota Timberwolves
Official Arena Page: Target Center
Minnesota Timberwolves Beat Writers
Jerry Zgoda, Minneapolis Star Tribune, @jerryzgoda
Marcus Fuller, St. Paul Pioneer Press, @gophersnow
Andy Greder, St. Paul Pioneer Press, @twolvesnow
Jon Krawczynski, Associated Press, @apkrawczynski
Related Minnesota Timberwolves Blogs and Links
Minnesota Timberwolves Logo History, courtesy of Chris Creamer’s Sportslogos.net
Salary Page: Minnesota Timberwolves Salaries at Spotrac
FanSided Minnesota Timberwolves: Dunking With Wolves
SB Nation Minnesota Timberwolves: Canis Hoopus
ESPN TrueHoop Minnesota Timberwolves: A Wolf Among Wolves
HoopsHabit Minnesota Timberwolves Archive: Minnesota Timberwolves
Bleacher Report Minnesota Timberwolves Team Stream: Minnesota Timberwolves
RealGM Minnesota Timberwolves Page: Minnesota Timberwolves
Stats and retired number information courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com
