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. Founded in 1989, the team is owned by Glen Taylor who also owns the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx. The Timberwolves play their home games at Target Center, their home since 1990.
The Minnesota Lynx are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team won the WNBA title in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017.
Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon, nicknamed "the Dream", is a Nigerian-American former professional basketball player. From 1984 to 2002, he played center in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Houston Rockets, and in his last season, the Toronto Raptors. He led the Rockets to back-to-back NBA championships in 1994 and 1995. Olajuwon was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008 and the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2016. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest centers, as well as one of the greatest basketball players of all time.
William Laimbeer Jr. is an American former professional basketball coach and player who spent the majority of his career with the Detroit Pistons. Known for his physical style of play, he played a big part in the Pistons earning the nickname the “Bad Boys" in the mid-1980s before helping them win back-to-back NBA championships.
Kevin Edward McHale is an American former professional basketball player, coach and analyst who played his entire professional career for the Boston Celtics. Sometimes nicknamed "The Torture Chamber", he is a Basketball Hall of Fame inductee and is regarded as one of the greatest power forwards of all time.
Derrick Allen Mahorn is an American former professional basketball player who played power forward and center for the Washington Bullets, Detroit Pistons, Philadelphia 76ers, and the New Jersey Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is currently a radio analyst for the Detroit Pistons, works as a co-host/analyst on SiriusXM NBA Radio, and during the summer is the head coach of the Aliens of the BIG3.
Ralph Lee Sampson Jr. is an American former professional basketball player. He is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. A 7-foot-4-inch (2.24 m) phenom, three-time college national player of the year, and first overall selection in the 1983 NBA draft, Sampson brought heavy expectations with him to the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Samuel E. Mitchell Jr. is an American former professional basketball player and coach. Playing at small forward, Mitchell's 18-year professional basketball career spanned three decades, and was most notable for his ten seasons with the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves, whom he also coached as an interim for the 2015–16 season. Mitchell coached for the Toronto Raptors from 2004 to 2008 as well, winning Coach of the Year Award in 2007.
Reginald Wayne Theus is an American basketball coach and former player. He played 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he was a two-time NBA All-Star. He is currently the men's basketball head coach and athletic director at Bethune–Cookman. He was the head coach for the NBA's Sacramento Kings and in college with the New Mexico State Aggies and the Cal State Northridge Matadors men's teams. He was also an assistant coach for the Louisville Cardinals under Rick Pitino.
The 1986 NBA Finals was the championship round of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 1985–86 season, and the culmination of the season's playoffs. It pitted the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics against the Western Conference champion Houston Rockets, in a rematch of the 1981 NBA Finals. It was the second and last NBA Championship Series of the 1980s not to feature the Los Angeles Lakers, who were eliminated by the Rockets on both occasions.
Jerry Lee Sichting is an American basketball coach and retired player of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Theodore Roosevelt Dunn is an American former professional basketball player who was most recently an assistant coach for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Tod James Murphy is an American college basketball coach and retired professional basketball player. Since 2009, Murphy has been the head coach at Gordon College, leading the Fighting Scots to two Commonwealth Coast Conference championships, the first coming in his first season with the team (2009–10) and the second in 2013–14.
Donald Casper Zierden, Jr. is an American basketball coach. From 2007 to 2009, Zierden served as the head coach of the Minnesota Lynx in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).
Rebekkah Brunson is an American basketball coach and broadcast analyst. She is currently an assistant coach with the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Brunson is a former forward for the Lynx and is the only player to win five WNBA championships. She held the WNBA record for rebounding, which she ceded to Lynx center Sylvia Fowles in 2020.
Chris Finch is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was previously an assistant coach for the Houston Rockets, Denver Nuggets, New Orleans Pelicans and Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
The 1996–97 NBA season was the Rockets' 30th season in the National Basketball Association, and 26th season in Houston. During the off-season, the Rockets acquired All-Star forward Charles Barkley from the Phoenix Suns, and signed free agents Kevin Willis, Brent Price, undrafted rookie guard Matt Maloney, and re-signed former Rockets forward and three-point specialist Matt Bullard, who was a member of the championship team from the 1994 NBA Finals. The Rockets began the season with a 21–2 start, but later on struggled posting a six-game losing streak between January and February, and held a 32–16 record at the All-Star break. At midseason, the team signed free agents Eddie Johnson and Sedale Threatt, as the Rockets won 14 of their final 17 games, finishing second in the Midwest Division with a 57–25 record.
The 1992–93 NBA season was the Rockets' 26th season in the National Basketball Association, and 22nd season in Houston. After missing the playoffs the previous year, the Rockets selected Robert Horry from the University of Alabama with the eleventh overall pick in the 1992 NBA draft. During the off-season, the team acquired Scott Brooks from the Minnesota Timberwolves. For the season opener, the Rockets traveled overseas to Yokohama, Japan to play their first two games against the Seattle SuperSonics. The Rockets got off to a 14–9 start to the season, but then struggled posting a 7-game losing streak between December and January. However, they won eight consecutive games afterwards, and held a 30–21 record at the All-Star break. The Rockets went 25–6 for the remainder of the season, posting a 15-game winning streak between February and March, and then posting an 11-game winning streak in April, as the team signed free agent Terry Teagle, who played in the final two games of the regular season. The Rockets finished first place in the Midwest Division with a 55–27 record.
The 2000–01 NBA season was the Rockets' 34th season in the National Basketball Association, and 30th season in the city of Houston. The Rockets had the ninth pick in the 2000 NBA draft, and selected Joel Przybilla from the University of Minnesota, but soon traded him to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for rookie center Jason Collier. In an effort to shore up their front line, the Rockets signed free agent Maurice Taylor during the off-season. After the retirement of Charles Barkley, the Rockets got off to a 13–9 start to the season, but then went on a six-game losing streak afterwards. The team held a 25–25 record at the All-Star break, and then played above .500 for the remainder of the season. However, the Rockets missed the playoffs despite finishing fifth in the Midwest Division with a winning record of 45–37, which was two games behind the 8th-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves.
John-Blair Bickerstaff is an American professional basketball coach who is the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Before that, he was the head coach for the Memphis Grizzlies and has also been an assistant coach for several other NBA teams.
