NBA veteran coach dies

nba

Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS

Flip Saunders, who rose from the backwaters of basketball’s minor leagues to become one of the most powerful men in the NBA as coach, team president and part owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves, died Sunday, the team said. He was 60.

Saunders was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma in June and doctors called it “treatable and curable.”

But he took a leave of absence from the team in September after complications arose during his treatment, which included chemotherapy. He had been hospitalized for more than a month.

“Flip was a symbol of strength, compassion, and dignity for our organization,” owner Glen Taylor said in a statement.

“He was a shining example of what a true leader should be, defined by his integrity and kindness to all he encountered.

Sam Mitchell has been named interim head coach and GM Milt Newton is heading the team’s personnel department.

Saunders went 654-592 in 17 NBA seasons with the Timberwolves, Detroit Pistons and Washington Wizards.

But his best days came in Minnesota, where he nurtured Kevin Garnett from a teenager who jumped straight from high school to the NBA in 1995 and helped turn the woeful Wolves into a perennial playoff team.

The Timberwolves had started to practice on Sunday when Newton got word from Taylor of Saunders’ death.

Practice was halted and a devastated Garnett left the floor, walked to the parking garage at the practice facility and sat down in the spot marked for Saunders. He posted a picture of the moment on his Facebook page with the message “Forever in my heart ...”

“He was a great human being and one of the best offensive minds in basketball,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, a friend of Saunders for three-plus decades, told The Associated Press. “I could talk basketball with him all day and night.”

Philip Daniel Saunders was born on Feb. 23, 1955, in Cleveland and was a prep basketball star at Cuyahoga Heights High School. His mother Kay nicknamed him Flip after hearing the name at a beauty salon.

He played in college at Minnesota, teaming with Kevin McHale and Mychal Thompson as a senior to lead the Golden Gophers to a 24-3 record.

Not long after graduating, Saunders got into coaching to begin a long and winding path to the NBA. He started at Golden Valley Lutheran College just outside of Minneapolis and was as an assistant at Minnesota and Tulsa before seven seasons in the Continental Basketball Association.

Saunders is survived by his wife, Debbie, son Ryan and daughters Mindy, Rachel and Kimberly.

“The Timberwolves have lost a brilliant leader, and Minnesota has lost an outstanding citizen,” Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton said.