The Minnesota Timberwolves have been relatively active as an organization over the past week in response to the George Floyd tragedy.
Over the past few days, Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Ryan Saunders continued to speak to the national media regarding the George Floyd tragedy in Minneapolis and Saunders’ own individual response.
Saunders spoke with ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski last week, highlighting what he planned to do as the leader of a predominantly African-American roster and one of the most public-facing figures of the organization.
As the week turned into the weekend, Timberwolves players were more present in the public eye, including the presence of both Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Okogie at last Friday’s rally at Minneapolis City Hall. Okogie also spoke with The Athletic’s Jon Krawzcynski for a question-and-answer piece and Malik Beasley spoke to ESPN. Other players were active on social media.
Now, Saunders has also appeared with Mina Kimes on ESPN Radio, archived in the ESPN Daily podcast, focusing again on the tragedy, the continued fallout, and what Saunders himself has learned over the past few days. This is a good opportunity to hear Saunders in his own words, not simply quoted in an article, speaking about race, violence, and how the community can not only heal but make progress.
Saunders also made an appearance on Mike Tiricos show on NBC Sports Network.
Hard, honest and important conversations between @timberwolves head coach Ryan Saunders and his young players have become pivotal to his learning and understanding of their lives. #LunchTalkNBCSN pic.twitter.com/5XwnVbGd2k
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) June 1, 2020
Elsewhere, Krawczynski wrote an impassioned piece (subscription required) from his own perspective as a Minnesotan but did a marvelous job weaving in comments from Josh Okogie, a player and outsider to the state who has spent the majority of the past two years in Minneapolis, and Gersson Rosas, the front office boss who has only been in town for a year.
Krawczynski correctly identifies that for as great a place as Minnesota, and specifically, the Twin Cities, is, there are issues that need to be addressed. It’s largely what Saunders was saying but from a different perspective.
It’s helpful to see the way that Okogie and Rosas look at their new home, and interesting to observe what the Timberwolves organization is trying to do to affect change in the community.
We’ll continue to keep an eye on anything that the Wolves do related to the tragedy and what their next steps are as an organization.