Minnesota Timberwolves head coach and president of basketball operations, Flip Saunders will unfortunately not return to the sidelines this season, according to Star Tribune Sports. Saunders, who was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in June, has still not recovered to the point where he could resume his responsibilities. Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor addressed the gravity of the situation:
Not this year. I just think his illness, I mean, it’s serious. At this point, if he came back I still think he’d have a hard time to recover all his energy and all that because he has been in the hospital for a long time.
Doctors have called Saunders’ cancer treatable, but he has been hospitalized since early September. While early projections had Saunders returning at some point to coach the team, at this point there is no way he can do that. In the meantime, Sam Mitchell will act as an interim head coach while general manager Milt Newton will assume larger responsibilities in personnel decisions.
Clearly, this story is much larger than basketball and we all are hoping for the best for Flip. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family and we hope for a full and healthy recovery.
