The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. The team was founded in 1989. Its majority owner is Glen Taylor, who also owns the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx. Currently, Taylor is in a legal battle over ownership of the team with Alex Rodriguez, Marc Lore, and Michael Bloomberg. The Timberwolves play their home games at Target Center, their home since 1990.
The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The Kings are the oldest team in the NBA, and the first team in the major professional North American sports leagues located in Sacramento. The team plays its home games at the Golden 1 Center. Their best seasons to date in the city were in the early 2000s, including a very successful 2001–02 season when they had the best record in the NBA at 61–21.
Metta Sandiford-Artest, previously legally named Metta World Peace, is an American former professional basketball player who played 19 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Under the name Ron Artest, he played college basketball for the St. John's Red Storm. He was drafted by the Chicago Bulls in the first round of the 1999 NBA draft.
Darius Songaila is a Lithuanian professional basketball coach and former player. He serves as an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has represented the Lithuania national team. He played at the power forward and center positions.
Corliss Mondari Williamson is an American basketball coach who serves as an assistant coach for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is also a former player who played for four teams during his 12-year career. He previously served as an assistant coach for the Phoenix Suns. His nickname is "Big Nasty", a moniker he received from his AAU coach when he was 13. Williamson was a dominating power forward in college at Arkansas, but an undersized power forward in the NBA and mostly played at the small forward position.
Matthew Joseph Harpring is an American former professional basketball player who played 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and was formerly paired with play-by-play broadcaster Craig Bolerjack as the color analyst in broadcasting games for the Utah Jazz.
Edward Lewis Pinckney is an American former professional basketball player.
Corey Wayne Brewer is an American former professional basketball player who serves as an assistant coach for the New Orleans Pelicans. He played college basketball for the Florida Gators, winning back-to-back NCAA national championships in 2006 and 2007. He was named Most Outstanding Player of the 2007 NCAA tournament.
Tyrone Kennedy Corbin is an American former basketball player who last worked as an assistant coach for the Charlotte Hornets. He was first appointed the assistant coach of the Phoenix Suns, then was named the Utah Jazz’s head coach, on February 10, 2011, following the resignation of longtime coach Jerry Sloan. He was also the brief interim head coach of the Sacramento Kings in the 2014–15 season before being replaced by George Karl. Prior to that, Corbin played 16 seasons in the NBA.
The 2009 NBA draft was held on June 25, 2009, at the WaMu Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In this draft, the National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players.
Elston Howard Turner Sr. is an American former professional basketball player who is an assistant coach for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Scott Layden is an American former general manager for the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is the son of former coach and general manager of the Jazz, Frank Layden, and a graduate of Saint Francis University in Loretto, Pennsylvania, where he studied Business and Sports Management. Layden was the general manager for the Minnesota Timberwolves from 2016 to 2020.
The Minnesota Timberwolves first participated in the National Basketball Association (NBA) Draft on June 27, 1989, about five months before their inaugural NBA season. The Timberwolves are currently the second NBA team to be based in Minneapolis since the Minneapolis Lakers were there from 1948 to 1960.
Donté Dominic Greene is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Syracuse Orange for one year before being selected with the 28th overall pick by the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2008 NBA draft.
The 2008–09 Sacramento Kings season is the 64th season of the franchise, 60th in the National Basketball Association (NBA), 24th in Sacramento. After they traded away Ron Artest to the Houston Rockets in exchange for former Kings guard Bobby Jackson, and recently drafted Donte Greene, a 2009 first–round draft pick and cash considerations during the offseason, the Kings have struggled all season and they finished with a franchise–worst 17–65 record surpassed their franchise record mark set in the 1989–90 season of 23–59 record and also team suffered their first 60–loss season in Kings' franchise history.
The 1989–90 NBA season was the Timberwolves' first season in the National Basketball Association. Nearly 30 years after the Lakers left Minneapolis for Los Angeles, California, the NBA returned to Minnesota with an expansion team. The Orlando Magic also joined the NBA in 1989 via expansion. The team revealed their inaugural logo of a blue wolf with green eyes in front of a silver basketball, and uniforms with the color scheme of blue, green, white, and silver.
The 1999–2000 NBA season was the Timberwolves' 11th season in the National Basketball Association. The Timberwolves acquired the sixth overall pick in the 1999 NBA draft from the New Jersey Nets, and selected Wally Szczerbiak out of Miami University, and also selected William Avery out of Duke University with the fourteenth overall pick. For the season opener, the Timberwolves traveled overseas to Tokyo, Japan to play their first two games against the Sacramento Kings. After a 7–5 start, the Timberwolves struggled posting an 8-game losing streak in December, but then won 20 of their next 25 games, and held a 27–20 record at the All-Star break. The Timberwolves enjoyed their first 50-win season finishing third in the Midwest Division with a 50–32 record.
The 2012–13 Phoenix Suns season was the organization's 45th season in the National Basketball Association. This season was the first since the 2004–05 season that the Suns were without star point guard and former two-time MVP Steve Nash after Nash was sign-and-traded to the rival Los Angeles Lakers. Another fan favorite, Grant Hill, also left for Los Angeles in this season, but he would sign with the Los Angeles Clippers. By technicality, the player who held the most playing experience for the Suns this season was Jermaine O'Neal.
The 2020–21 Minnesota Timberwolves season was the 32nd season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA) On February 21, 2021, the Timberwolves fired head coach Ryan Saunders after three seasons with the team. On the following day, Toronto Raptors assistant head coach Chris Finch was announced as the next head coach. After a loss to the Sacramento Kings on April 21, followed by the San Antonio Spurs defeating the Detroit Pistons the next day, the Timberwolves were eliminated from playoff contention for the third straight year.
Monte McNair is an American sports executive who is the general manager and president of basketball operations for the Sacramento Kings. He was appointed to this position in September 2020, having previously spent 13 years in the Houston Rockets organization.
