Saunders was in the hospital battling cancer, and Spielman wanted him to know the Vikings were thinking about him.
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Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor in a fervent statement said: “Flip was a symbol of strength, compassion, and dignity for our organization”.
With Saunders ruled out for this season, interim head coach Sam Mitchell will be holding fort for the T-Wolves campaign.
Saunders spent 10 seasons as the head coach in Minnesota before being let go midway through the 2005 season. He took Detroit to the Conference Finals for all three seasons. “Occasionally, I’ve made a wrong decision and perhaps supporting Flip leaving our organization as coach is one of those things I’ve done wrong”. He had a a record of 654-592 with the Wolves, Wizards and Pistons. He posted a picture of the moment on his Facebook page with the message “Forever in my heart…” And then I’d see him at road games and at home sometimes because his daughters were here.
Philip Daniel Saunders was born on February 23, 1955, in Cleveland and was a prep basketball star at Cuyahoga Heights High. His mother Kay nicknamed him Flip after hearing the name at a beauty salon. “He was so looking forward to the future”, Thompson said. Stotts started his coaching career in the Continental Basketball Association as an assistant where Saunders was a coaching legend, with two CBA championships while coaching the La Crosse Catbirds and two Coach of The Year Awards. The Pistons were perennial underachievers following that first season, however, and Saunders was sacked after the Pistons lost in the 2008 Eastern Conference Finals. Saunders and Garnett led the team to their first playoff berth in 1997, the first of eight-straight trips to the postseason.
Saunders took the helm in Washington at the beginning of the 2009 season but the wins didn’t come easy for Saunders in Washington.
In May 2013, Taylor brought Saunders back to be the Wolves’ president of basketball operations.
Although a native Ohioan, Phil “Flip” Saunders was as big a name as any on the Minnesota basketball scene. You said “The point guard has to be the extension to the coach” These words lived inside of me as I’ve had my share of ups and downs with coaches. “Great basketball mind and even better human being”, Love said on Instagram. I thank you for giving me my foundation in how to play the professional way. “I went to Flip in Minnesota as a guy who had been on five teams in five years”.
He is survived by his wife, Debbie, and their four children: Ryan, Mindy and twins, Rachel and Kimberly.
“Before Kevin Garnett became a great, he was a rookie trying to find his way with the Minnesota Timberwolves”, Complex.com reported. Flip Saunders was a true coach, a true person, and a true legend.
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If you have a problem with this tribute for being self serving, you really have to blame the existence of social media.
