Perhaps one of the most impactful moments in recent Minnesota Timberwolves history was the passing of longtime head coach Flip Saunders in 2015, an event that left many on the team with yet another piece of motivation to play for.
Karl-Anthony Towns was one of the players Saunders held to the highest esteem, and Towns is looking to pay him back by leading this bolstered team back to the NBA playoffs for the first time since 2004, according to Kyle Ratke of Timberwolves.com.
Towns and the rest of the team is better equipped than any other to reach that goal after acquiring Jimmy Butler via trade and signing the likes of Jeff Teague, Taj Gibson, Jamal Crawford, and Shabazz Muhammad to the team.
Saunders coached the Timberwolves from 1995-2005 and then again for one season in 2014-15, announcing in the offseason that he had been diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma, for which he underwent treatment.
However, after being hospitalized for more than a month following complications in September, owner Glen Taylor announced that Saunders would miss the next season, putting Sam Mitchell as the interim in charge of the team.
Saunders passed away on Oct. 25, 2015 at the age of 60, missing Towns' Rookie of the Year season in its entirety.
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