Minnesota Timberwolves: 5 most successful former Wolves head coaches
By Ben Beecken
Minnesota Timberwolves: Successful former head coaches
No. 3: Kevin McHale
- Head coach of Timberwolves in 2004-05, 2007-08
- 39-55 record while with Wolves (.415 winning percentage)
- Combined record of 193-130 (.598) as head coach after leaving Wolves
To say that there is a jump in coaching success from No. 4 to No. 3 on this list would be a massive understatement.
Minnesota native, University of Minnesota alum and former Boston Celtics great Kevin McHale led the Wolves front office from 1995 until 2008. During the 2008-09 season, McHale named himself head coach in the middle of the season for the second time in under four years. When owner Glen Taylor hired David Kahn to run the basketball operations department, he allowed Kahn to decide McHale’s fate.
McHale didn’t stand a chance, of course, and was unceremoniously dismissed. To that point, he had run up a record of 39-55 (.415) in his two stints as interim head coach in Minnesota, but that keep Houston’s Daryl Morey from hiring him to shepherd the Rockets in 2011 after McHale spent a couple of years in broadcasting.
McHale took over the Rockets ahead of the lockout-shortened season. The best players on the team were Kyle Lowry, who had not yet blossomed into the star he is today, Goran Dragic, and Kevin Martin. Houston went 34-32 that season.
Morey acquired James Harden from the Thunder prior to the 2011-12 campaign, and the Rockets improved to 45-37 and then won 54 games the following season. Then, 56 wins and a trip to the Western Conference Finals in 2014-15. But a 4-7 start to the next season led to his firing.
McHale hasn’t coached since, but his .598 winning percentage and a trip to the conference finals is enough to put him No. 3 on this list.