Minnesota Timberwolves president and head coach Flip Saunders will take a leave of absence from both positions after "complications" from his treatment for Hodgkin's Lymphoma, the team announced. Sam Mitchell will take over as the interim head coach, while general manager Milt Newton will take on a bigger role in the front office.
Flip Saunders takes leave of absence due to complications from Lymphoma treatment
Sam Mitchell has been elevated from an assistant to head coach in the interim, while Milt Newton will take on a bigger role within Minnesota’s front office.
Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports
Saunders was recently admitted to the hospital for more testing and treatment.
Flip Saunders family statement pic.twitter.com/DGxg8zSqez
— Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) September 11, 2015 The plan is still for Saunders to come back to the bench this season, but his return won’t be imminent after this setback:
There's hope Saunders will return to bench this season, but plan will be for Mitchell to give him time to work on health, sources tell Yahoo
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) September 10, 2015 Saunders, 60, is prepared to enter the second year of his second stint as head coach in Minnesota. He first joined the Timberwolves in May 1995 as general manager under Kevin McHale, and he then became head coach that December after Bill Blair was fired.
Saunders guided Minnesota to its first playoff berth in the 1996-97 season and proceeded to lose in the first round seven years in a row before losing in the Western Conference Finals in 2004. He was fired after starting 25-26 in the 2004-05 season.
Saunders then spent three years with the Detroit Pistons, losing three times in the Eastern Conference Finals. He moved on to the Washington Wizards and spent two-plus years there before getting the ax.
After a brief stint with the Boston Celtics as an advisor, Saunders returned to the Timberwolves as president of basketball operations in May 2013. A little more than a year later, Saunders replaced Rick Adelman as head coach and struggled to a 16-66 record in his first season back at the helm.
Saunders has a career regular-season coaching record of 654-594 and a postseason record of 47-51.
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