When the Minnesota Timberwolves hired Flip Saunders as their coach in 2014, for a second tenure on the Minnesota bench, they did so hoping he would still be the coach. That did not happen. Saunders was diagnosed with lymphoma early in his tenure, and died on Oct. 25, 2015. The Timberwolves have been coached by three men since. Sam Mitchell took over on an interim basis after Saunders was diagnosed. Tom Thibodeau was hired to replace Saunders as both coach and president of basketball operations. And when Thibodeau was fired last season, he was succeeded by Ryan Saunders, Flip’s son. 

Fast forward to Friday, Oct. 25, 2019. The Timberwolves won their season opener in overtime Wednesday in thrilling fashion and pushed their record to 2-0 with a big win over the Charlotte Hornets on Friday. Afterward, the team’s star, Karl-Anthony Towns, presented Saunders with the game ball in honor of his father on the anniversary of his death. 

Towns is one of the few players on the team who was on the roster when the elder Saunders still ran the team, so receiving the game ball from him was an especially touching moment for Ryan, who said that he would share the moment with his mother and sisters, and that his father would be proud of the team for how they have played and where they are going. 

If the start of this season is any indication, that statement is accurate. The Timberwolves beat a playoff team on the road to open their season, and then blew out their second opponent without much resistance in the second half. Towns is playing his best basketball yet, and Minnesota looks primed to compete for only its second playoff berth since trading Kevin Garnett to the Boston Celtics more than a decade ago. Garnett was coached in Minnesota by the elder Saunders. It would only be fitting for his son to lead the Timberwolves back to prominence alongside Towns, especially after a moment like this.