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 "It is with extreme sadness that the Minnesota Timberwolves today
learned that Phil 'Flip' Saunders, who served as the team's
President of Basketball Operations and Head Coach, in addition to
being a minority owner of the team, passed away today at age 60,"
the team said in a statement.
Saunders, a veteran of 17 NBA seasons who posted a career record of
654-592, was diagnosed with Hodgkins lymphoma, a cancer of the
immune system, in June.
The longtime coach said in August when the team announced his health
issues that doctors called his condition a "very treatable and
curable form of cancer."
He took a leave of absence from the NBA team in September after
complications arose following chemotherapy treatments.
The team promoted associate head coach Sam Mitchell to interim head
coach and expanded general manager Milt Newton’s duties until
Saunders' return.
Saunders coached the Timberwolves for 11 seasons in two separate
stints. He also coached the Detroit Pistons and Washington Wizards.
He began his NBA coaching career in 1996 with the Timberwolves and
led the team to eight playoff appearances in a row.
After being fired by Minnesota in 2005, Saunders joined the Pistons
for the next season and steered them to the conference finals three
times.
Saunders coached the Wizards for three seasons before returning to
the T-Wolves in 2013 as team president and part-owner. He took over
again as coach last season to direct a major rebuilding of a young
team that finished 16-66.
Tributes flowed in from the basketball community after the news
broke of Saunders' death.
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The Pistons released a statement which read, in part: "He will be
remembered by Pistons fans as one of the franchise’s most successful
head coaches -- leading the club to three consecutive Eastern
Conference Finals appearances and a franchise-record 64 wins in
2005-06."
NBA great LeBron James tweeted: "Lost a great person in our
fraternity way too early."
James' team mate Kevin Love, who played under Saunders in Minnesota,
also reacted on Twitter.
"Flip you were one of a kind," said Love. "Great basketball mind and
even better human being. You had a great impact on my life
personally and professionally."
Former NBA player Mychal Thompson, a friend of Saunders, recalled
their final conversation.
"He was so looking forward to the future," Thompson said. "That’s
why this is so heartbreaking to see him gone so soon, way too young
... this does not feel right. He had so much more to give.”
(Reporting by Larry Fine in New York and Andrew Both in Cary, North
Carolina; Editing by Ed Osmond / Ian Ransom)
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