16
FINDING MY OWN PATH A N I N T E R V I E W W I T H R YA N S A U N D E R S BY TIM WESTERMEYER
Ryan Saunders, head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves since May of 2019, is a graduate of Wayzata High School and the University of Minnesota, where he was a walk-on with the U’s Golden Gopher basketball team. He began his professional coaching career with the Washington Wizards, where he developed a reputation for player development and the early use of analytics to help teams make better game-time decisions. The son of former Timberwolves head coach Flip Saunders, who died of Hodgkin’s lymphoma in October 2015, Ryan has always understood that he can only lead authentically and effectively as himself, and that he shouldn’t try to be anyone else—even his dad. In this interview, he answers some questions about family, basketball and what it means to lead as a servant.
