Cancer is godawful. Cancer is devilish. Cancer is inequitable, and far too common in human nature.
At just 60 years old, Flip Saunders fought an extremely hard battle with cancer this past summer. Diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in June, Saunders took an indefinite leave of absence from the Minnesota Timberwolves to focus solely on his treatment.
Four months later, the brutal news struck the organization, two days before the start of the 2015-16 regular season. As announced by the Timberwolves’ PR department, Saunders passed away on Sunday afternoon.
Coming as startling and heartbreaking news out of nowhere, it led to countless NBA figures — past and present — sharing their sympathies for Saunders and his family.
Not only is 60 years way too short of a life in the modern era, but Saunders was too incredible of a human being to deserve this exit. He was set to enter his 18th season as an NBA head coach, before the tragic disease was discovered by his doctors.
Hodgkin’s Lymphoma isn’t too rare of a cancer, as it occurs strongly in two peaks: First, in the stages of early adulthood (ages 15-35), and others in the latter stages of life (55 and older). Based on the five-year survival rate — which is an estimate of one’s condition after five years of the original diagnosis — this type of cancerous disease has an 85% survival rate.
That makes it even harder to process this news about Saunders, widely-regarded as one of the top basketball intellects to have a conversation with.
I didn't know Flip well, but he was always open to talking Xs-and-Os, recounting some classic old CBA stories, etc. Great chats. Generous.
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) October 25, 2015
The particular disease is best described by a spread of cancer from one lymph node group to another, and B-symptoms (such as dangerous fevers, sweating, and significant weight loss) appearing as the disease advances into later stages.
Back in August, Saunders’ doctors believed his situation was treatable and, most importantly … curable. But then, in early October, the basketball universe didn’t know how to react when the Timberwolves announced that Saunders’ cancer was in “life-threatening” condition.
Saunders was serving as Minnesota’s President of Basketball Operations along with being their beloved head coach. This entailed making draft decisions, managing the infrastructure of the team’s roster, and still having the pressure of molding, maturing, and guiding the players. Excluding the 39-year-old geezers Kevin Garnett and Andre Miller, the average age of Minnesota’s roster is 25 years. That’s extremely young for a professional team, with Andrew Wiggins (20), Tyus Jones (19), and Karl Towns (19) being the young timberpups.
Wiggins had the chance to learn under Saunders last season, and he’d be the first to tell you how Saunders stimulated his NBA growth as a rookie. He helped Wiggins learn right from the start, and coached him to a standout Rookie of the Year season.
Towns is another story, as he didn’t get a chance to spend too much time with Saunders this summer. It was the respected coach who jumped for joy when Minnesota won the 2015 Draft Lottery, and he used careful consideration to select Towns with the No. 1 overall pick.
No player meant more to Saunders, however, than the one he decided to bring back to the Target Center last season.
Kevin Garnett, in the twilight of his career, held Saunders on a platform of greatness in terms of a coach, mentor, and friend. Saunders drafted the future Hall-of-Famer in the summer of 1995, just a month after he became general manager of the Timberwolves. Working alongside Kevin McHale (his former teammate at the University of Minnesota), Saunders was making landmark decisions 20 years ago.
Garnett was just a high school kid sitting at the tables on draft day, but that didn’t stop Saunders from taking a chance on him. While Garnett did possess a revolutionary skill-set and ungodly athleticism that scared you senseless, people still weren’t sure if a high school lad was worth a top five gamble. Nonetheless, Saunders used the Wolves’ No. 5 overall pick to draft the first high school player since 1975. The last one was Darryl Dawkins, who recently passed away this August.
It wasn’t until December of Garnett’s rookie season, though, that he took over Minnesota’s head coaching duties. Once the path was cleared for Flip, he steadily improved the franchise. After only winning 20 games during the 1995-96 season, Saunders led a 20-win improvement during his first full year as the coach. That’s a jump quite similar to Jason Kidd’s impact in Milwaukee recently, and it helped the Timberwolves reach the 1997 Playoffs.
Unfortunately, Saunders had to endure seven straight first round eliminations, before finally cracking through the Western Conference’s brick wall. His 2003-04 Timberwolves were a special bunch, and almost impossible to root against. They had won 58 games during the regular season, and everyone was sick and tired of the Shaq & Kobe Lakers propelling themselves to the Finals. Saunders and Garnett marched those Wolves to the West Finals, falling to L.A. in six games.
It was unquestionably Saunders’ best unit with Minnesota, as they were one of the few to accomplish the “championship contender criteria” that I hold a lot of value in: Obtaining a top 10 placement in Offensive Rating, along with a top 10 in Defensive Rating. Minnesota not only met that — they exceeded it by being a top six team in both. Those 2003-04 sluggish Lakers couldn’t say the same, since their defense was two notches below Saunders’.
Cancer is brutal, unfair & takes away lives way too early. Kevin Garnett would run through a wall for Flip & this news hurts everyone in MIN
— Shane Young (@YoungNBA) October 25, 2015
Saunders was a luminary in the basketball sphere, and even that sells him a bit short. For the most part, players couldn’t wait to lace up their sneakers, and hit the floor for him. He was in the prestigious class of motivators when it came to energizing his players, especially in the younger days. As he got older and had to deal with complicated rosters (the Washington days from 2009-2012), his powerful image was forgotten.
During nine seasons in Minnesota from 1996-97 to 2004-05 (excluding his rookie takeover), Saunders took the Wolves to new heights. The average defensive rating rank of those nine teams? 14.3. The average offensive rating rank? 8.8.
That’s coaching balance, almost as perfectly as you can get it over a nine-year span.
Only 20 NBA head coaches have won over 650 games in their career. Saunders is one of them, garnering a 654-592 regular season record (.525). He was 47-51 in the playoffs (.480) during his tenures with Minnesota and Detroit, but it should be understood that only 26 coaches in history have 47+ playoff victories. When you think about the long line of coaching trees throughout the league, it’s worthy of an applause.
On a personal level, where I really became fond of Saunders was during his days with the Pistons. As he took over for Larry Brown in 2005, one thing can be said about Saunders: He kept Detroit consistent, and on the same track Brown previously had them. He coached the unique group of Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Rasheed Wallace, and Ben Wallace to a 176-70 record (.715), including the greatest season of his coaching career — a 64-win journey that nearly got Detroit back to the Finals.
He was stonewalled in the East Finals three straight times, by Dwyane Wade’s Heat, LeBron James’ Cavaliers, and the Big Three in Boston. Finishing second to those groups in the Eastern Conference Playoffs was nothing to sulk over, and the city of Detroit revered him just as much as Minnesota.
As a whole, the NBA family (including writers and media personalities who showed tremendous support for Saunders all summer) was genuinely stunned.
This was wasn’t supposed to happen, not to a person that still had many goals to pursue and expeditions to embark on. He wanted to be there, witnessing this young Timberwolves team grow into the future of the West powerhouses.
He wanted to fight for one last opportunity at a championship, and ride off into the coaching sunset. He wanted to be there at Garnett’s Hall-of-Fame induction, since no other player or person in the NBA knows The Big Ticket better than Flip.
But now, as Saunders watches from above, he can be proud of the foundation he built in Minnesota. On a more important level, he can be proud to have four children surviving him. Saunders once dodged a tragedy in 2007, and we wish he could’ve showed cancer the door.
The NBA will miss Flip, but we’ll sure remember him.
Every time KG bangs his head against the stanchion, we’ll know who’s on his mind.