MARCH

FINDING MY OWN PATH

AN INTERVIEW WITH RYAN SAUNDERS BY TIM WESTERMEYER

Ryan Saunders, head coach of the Minnesota Timber wolves 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 analy tics to help teams make better game-time decisions. The son of former Timber wolves 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 tr y to be anyone else — even his dad. In this inter view, he answers some questions about family, basketball and what it means to lead as a servant.