Le Basketbawl

After being a part of the Minnesota Timberwolves franchise since the team became a member of the NBA, Kevin McHale may be in the midst of his final season with the club. Minnesota went though some major changes on Monday, and for the first time during his tenure McHale could be vulnerable.

The “Minneapolis Star Tribune” reported Monday that the Minnesota Timberwolves became the fourth NBA franchise to fire their head coach since the season began, as they released Randy Wittman from his duties. Wittman has been replaced by Vice President of Basketball Operations Kevin McHale, who will leave behind his front office responsibilities, and concentrate strictly on being the bench boss. This will be the second tour of duty for McHale on the pine, he replaced former head coach Flip Saunders when Minnesota fired him during the 2004-2005 campaign.

McHale and T-Wolves Team Owner Glen Taylor addressed the changes in a press conference Monday morning. Taylor said that his dissatisfaction with the club’s 4-15 start led to Wittman’s demise. Taylor told reporters “I am disappointed in our record and believe that we have more talent than our record indicates. A change had to be made and with three-fourths of the season remaining, there is still time to make substantial progress this year. There were certain goals and expectations that we had for this team at the start of the season, and we have not lived up to them.”

Taylor in talking about McHale taking over as head coach, seemed to infer that the Hall Of Fame forward better improve the record, or there may be consequences. Taylor said “Kevin has assembled the players on this team, and believes in their talent and skill level. It is my expectation that Kevin will be able to get the most out of our team and our players in his new role as head coach.”

Reading between the lines it seems that Taylor may have finally grown weary of having McHale running the franchise. The former “Golden Gopher” has been by Taylor’s side since the inception of the team, first ass a broadcaster and special assistant, and has been Vice President of Basketball Operations since 1995. Despite the talent that have worn the Timberwolves uniforms over the years, the team has never advanced far in the playoffs. McHale always appeared to be untouchable with the T-Wolves, perhaps his Teflon coating has finally worn off.