After 20 years of existence, the Minnesota Timberwolves franchise has been one of few successes and much mediocrity.
There have been a few great moments in the team's history, but most, if not all, of those have been because of Kevin Garnett, who is unquestionably the greatest player in Timberwolves history, and it's not close.
The 1995 NBA Draft was probably the defining moment of the franchise's history, when they made a skinny 6'10" forward straight out of high school the fifth overall selection.
Garnett averaged 10.4 points per game during his rookie season before quickly morphing into one of the greatest players the NBA has ever seen.
Garnett led the Wolves to their first-ever playoff appearance in 1997. And after seven straight years of first-round playoff exits, he finally led the team to the Western Conference Finals in 2004, where they would eventually fall to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Aside from those relatively great moments, the Wolves have been the model of mediocrity. Few other players really stand out as being great icons of the franchise.
"The Big Ticket" was finally traded to the Boston Celtics before the 2007-2008 season. He left the Wolves after 12 seasons, and is currently the Wolves all-time leader in points (19,041), rebounds (10,542), assists (4,146), blocked shots (1,576), steals (1,282), and games played (927).
Those incredible numbers really got me thinking. Who is the second greatest player in Timberwolves history? Here are some of the candidates:
Anthony (Tony) Campbell - Forward 1989-'92
Campbell was selected by the Wolves in the 1989 expansion draft from the Los Angeles Lakers. He averaged 23.2 points and 5.5 rebounds per game for Minnesota during their inaugural season. He currently ranks fifth all-time on the Timberwolves career scoring list (4,888 points).
He was the Wolves' first offensive star after toiling on the bench for the Lakers behind the likes of Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and the rest of the stars in LA.
Sam Mitchell - Forward 1989-'92, 1995-2002
Mitchell, another original Timberwolf, currently ranks second in franchise history to Garnett in points (7,161) and rebounds (3,030).
Besides a brief stint with the Indiana Pacers, Mitchell was a Wolf for his entire career and would be credited by Garnett himself as one of the players who helped mold "The Big Ticket" into the player he is today.
He went on to coach the Toronto Raptors almost immediately after his playing career was over, and won the NBA Coach of the Year Award for the 2006-2007 season.
He was fired as the Raptors coach in December of 2008, and finished as the Raptors' all-time winningest coach in franchise history. Many Timberwolves fans hope that Mitchell will be among the candidates to be the new coach in Minnesota.
Doug West - Guard 1989-1998
West was another original Wolf, and holds the distinction for being the last of the original team to remain on the Wolves (Mitchell left for Indiana then returned).
He was known as an athletic, well-rounded player who was a superb defender and an able scorer. During his best season, 1992-93, West averaged a career-high 19.3 points per game. He has career average of 9.6 points per game, and is ranked fourth all-time on the Timberwolves scoring list (6,216).
West is currently an assistant coach for the Villanova Wildcats.
Wally Szczerbiak - Guard/Forward 1999-2006
Played his entire career with the Wolves in the shadow of Garnett, Szczerbiak actually ranked No. 3 on the team's all-time scoring list (6,777). He was a star at Miami (OH) University and was drafted No. 6 overall by Minnesota in the 1999 NBA Draft.
Many people forget he was actually an All-Star in 2002, when he was a coaches-selection. That season he averaged 18.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game.
He was traded to the Boston Celtics, along with Michael Olowokandi, Dwanye Jones and a first round draft pick, in January of 2006.
Stephon Marbury - Guard 1996-1999
Marbury was drafted out of Georgia Tech in 1996 by the Milwaukee Bucks
We're going to send you the most entertaining Minnesota Timberwolves articles, videos, and podcasts from around the web.
7 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete