Despite being born in Ohio, Flip Saunders was a Minnesotan through and through. He played at the University of Minnesota in the mid-1970’s, with future NBA players Kevin McHale and Mychal Thompson as teammates. Saunders broke into coaching soon after graduating college, and he embarked on winding path from Golden Valley (MN) Lutheran, to assistant jobs at his alma mater as well as Tulsa, to the CBA and eventually to the NBA with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Saunders was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma this summer, with the idea his cancer was treatable and curable. He originally was expected to keep his current duties with the Timberwolves, but the news got more dire in recent months and Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor announced last Friday that Saunders would not return to coaching this season.