History of the Minnesota Timberwolves (2024)

Minnesota Timberwolves HISTORY
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Quick facts:Founded: 1988 Arena: Target CenterDivision Championships: 1(2004)Midwest division 1(2004)Northwest Division NoneNBA Titles: NonePlayoffs: 9Owner: Glen Taylor
A long awaited return:
From 1947 until 1960 Minneapolis enjoyed NBA basketball behind the George Mikan lead Lakers, but when the team picked up and moved to sunny Southern California the city was left without NBA basketball for the next 30 years.
In 1985 it looked like the city might finally get another team when the ownership of the Utah Jazz were looking to sell the team to a group from Minnesota, but that was quickly spurred when an owner from Salt Lake City bought the franchise. Instead the NBA awarded them one of four new NBA franchises that entered the NBA in the late 1980s.
The Wolves entered the NBA along with the Orlando Magic in 1989. Miami and Charlotte had entered a year earlier.

Playoff Struggles:
The Wolves playoff struggles have really be unprecedented in NBA history. The team first made the playoffs following the 1997 season but did not win a series until 2004 having accumulated 7 consecutive series losses, which is one of the longest playoff series losing streaks in NBA history.
Since their two series victories in the 2004 NBA playoffs the Wolves have yet to win another series, the chief culprit behind that is that the Wolves did not make the playoffs between 2005 and 2017.

Why the Timberwolves?
Before entering the league the state of Minnesota had a name the team contest. There were thousands of entries but ultimate it came down to just two names. The Timberwolves and Polars. The city counsels of every city in the state voted on the names and Timberwolves won.
Timberwolves is a fitting name as the area is home to the largest population of Timberwolves in the continuous United States.

The Drought
The Wolves held one of the NBA's most dubious losing streaks. The franchise missed the playoffs for 14 consecutive seasons from the end of the 2004 season to the end of the 2018 season.

During that time the Wolves had more 60 loss seasons (4), than they did winning seasons (1).

Bottom of the league
The Wolves have 9 total 60-loss seasons, which is the 2nd most in NBA history behind only the Clippers. The Clippers however, are 20 years older than the Wolves, so the Wolves have amassed more losses in a shorter time frame.

Until just recently the Wolves had more 60-loss seasons than they had winning seasons.

Malik Sealey:
In the summer of 2000, guard Malik Sealy was killed in a car accident by a drunk driver. Sealy's number has since been retired: the number 2 jersey memorialized with Sealy's name on a banner hanging from the rafters of Target Center. It remains the only number retired by the team.

Sealy played two season with the Wolves and averaged 10.4 points per game in 113. He had one of his best seasons of his carrer in 2000, appearing in all 82 games for the Wolves and averaging 11.3 ppg on nearly 50% shooting.

Sealy and teammate Kevin Garentt were close and Sealy's death had a profound impact on Garnett.

The Joe Smith Scandal:
In the 1999 offseason the Wolves signed free agent Joe Smith to a one year deal worth 1.7 million dollars, which was considerably below his market value. The following season Smith re-signed for just 2.1 million for one year, again considerably lower than his market value. In 2000 the Wolves, now with Smiths "bird rights" signed him to a long term deal worth around $86 million dollars, which was considerably higher than his market value. This caused some people in the NBA's front officer to begin to investigate the contract.

Upon investigation it was found out that Smith and Wolves owner Glen Taylor and GM Kevin McHale had engaged in negotiations which violated the salary cap. Smith would sign with the Wolves for less for 3 seasons until the Wolves had his bird rights and then they would overpay him.

The NBA would give the Timberwolves one of the most severe punishments in NBA history. The league voided out all of Smith's contracts, fined the Wolves 3.5 million dollars, suspended GM Kevin McHale for several months, suspended owner Glen Taylor for a year, and stripped the Wolves of all first round picks between 2001 and 2005. The league did ultimately return the 2003 and 2005 picks.

Smith would go on to sign with the Detroit Pistons for a season, before oddly enough returning to the Timberwolves.

The loss of the Draft picks and other roster mismanagement would eventually catchup to the Wolves and this scandal can be directly seen as the cause of the Wolves playoff drought which lasted from 2004-218.

The Greatest Teams To Never Win An NBA Title

An often-debated topic among NBA circles is "Who is the greatest franchise in NBA history?". There are lots of very good teams to chose from. Could it be the team with the most NBA titles in 17, the Boston Celtics? Could it be the team with the most consistency in winning titles; the Los Angeles Lakers? Maybe it could be the most consistent team in terms of overall winning the San Antonio Spurs? The Warriors, Bulls, and 76ers also get honorable mentions. All these teams have one thing in common - multiple NBA titles.

One thing not often discussed is who is the greatest NBA franchise who has never won a title? The list is actually quite short, as only eleven NBA teams have yet to win an NBA title. Five of those teams to never win a title are recent having just joined the NBA in the past 35 years. Six of the eleven teams have yet to even make an NBA-finals.

Three of the four teams from the ABA have never won an NBA title, though the Indiana Pacers and Brooklyn Nets have both gotten close

Complete Article
Who is the worst franchise in NBA history?

Losing is as much a part of basketball as winning, but some teams do the former a lot more often than the latter. They lose so much that they become synonymous with losing. The Clippers have been the butt of many jokes, especially during the 1990s, about their winning futility, but they seem to have turned it around once being sold off.

So who is the worst team in NBA history? Obviously, the Los Angeles Clippers come to mind first and foremost. This is a franchise that all but embraced losing and made it part of their identity. But a forced ownership change has seemingly given the Clippers a new identity that has taken them away from the trash heap of the NBA. The glitz and the glam of LA also added to the Clippers mystic as the unlovable losers, and the franchise did deserve a lot of the bashing it got for sucking.

The Clippers were run by a terrible owner in Donald Sterling and had a terrible general manager in Elgin Baylor, that Sterling insisted on keep even though the team was always terrible

Complete Article
Minnesota Madness

The NBA in the 1980s and 1990s is often seen as an era of financial stability and expansion. The league saw money come in at a previously unprecedented rate, most of it coming for the new found television revenue. The NBA added 11 new teams from 1976 until 1996. The league also found three superstars to hang its image on in Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan.

But there was an underbelly to this glorious side as well. In the same time span that saw the NBA add 11 new teams, four teams relocated and three others attempted to relocate.

One of the most interesting cases involved the Minnesota Timberwolves who were awarded by the NBA to the city of Minneapolis in 1989. The Wolves were one of four NBA teams that entered the league between 1988 and 1989, and the second NBA team to play in the Twin-Cities.

Complete Article
Karl Anthony Towns: The NBA's Next Great Big Man

For much of its history, the NBA has seen many of its best teams built around great centers. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the league's all-time leading scorer, while names like Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell are as well-known as any in basketball history. From 1989 through 2005, six centers combined for three MVPs and 473 1st place votes. In the 10 seasons since, however, big men have received a total of seven 1st place votes (all for Dwight Howard). As the game has shifted toward more athletic players and three point shooters, the center position has, for the most part, been relegated to a supporting role. One player, however, may be the exception in the new NBA.

By the All-Star break this year, Karl-Anthony Towns already had more win shares than LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose or Dwyane Wade had during their rookie campaigns.

Complete Article

History of the Minnesota Timberwolves (1)
Tony Campbell was the Wolves first star and first player to average over 20 points per game.

History of the Minnesota Timberwolves (2)
Jimmy Butler was an all-star with the Wolves.

History of the Minnesota Timberwolves (3)
Rudy Gobert has been an anchor for the defensive side of the ball for the Wolves.

History of the Minnesota Timberwolves (4)
Karl-Athony Towns known as KAT, was a multi-time NBA all-star for the Wolves and is considered the 2nd greatest player in team history behind Kevin Garnett.

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History of the Minnesota Timberwolves (2024)
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