Just 33 years old, Ryan Saunders is the youngest head coach in the NBA.
This comes as Saunders held the title as youngest interim head coach in the NBA.
The Timberwolves have removed the “interim” tag from his title and announced that he is now the head coach of the franchise. Saunders finished last season in charge following the firing of Tom Thibodeau in January.
A press conference to formally introduce Saunders in his new job begins at 10 a.m. Tuesday and is aired live on WCCO radio.
“I look forward to building on what we established last season in terms of instilling a positive environment for our players to grow on and off the court. I’m excited to collaborate with Gersson and our staff to build a winning team that we can all be proud of.”
Saunders is the son of the late Flip Saunders, who passed away in 2015. Flip coached the Wolves on two separate occasions. His first stint began in 1995, and it took just two years to reach the playoffs for the first time in team Wolves history.
It’s only 815am in the east and I know for a fact that this is the BEST news I’ll hear all day. SOOOO happy for and proud of Ryan Saunders. Well deserved. I can only imagine how proud Flip is as he looks down on his son from above. -------- @Timberwolves https://t.co/A2g9P9rfOm
— Sage Steele (@sagesteele)
May 20, 2019 Like his dad, Ryan also played college basketball at the University of Minnesota.
Saunders’ hiring wasn’t the only news of note from Monday. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the team has also hired an assistant general manager.
Minnesota is hiring Brooklyn’s Gianluca Pascucci has an assistant GM, league sources tell ESPN. Pascucci was the Nets Director of Global Scouting and had previously worked closely with new Timberwolves President Gersson Rosas with Houston.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn)
May 20, 2019 For news, information and reaction on the Saunders hiring, follow News Talk 830 WCCO's Henry Lake on Twitter.
