60 Fun Facts About Minnesota Timberwolves

The Timberwolves joined the NBA in 1989 alongside which other expansion team?

Orlando Magic: the league added Charlotte and Miami in 1988, then Minnesota and Orlando a year later, and Orlando won the coin flip to pick first in the 1989 expansion draft.

What is the name of the Timberwolves' home arena in downtown Minneapolis?

Target Center has carried the name since it opened in 1990 because the retailer Target, founded and still based in Minneapolis, bought the naming rights before the first game.

Which name lost to 'Timberwolves' in the 1986 vote among Minnesota's 842 city councils?

Polars was the other finalist from more than 6,000 contest entries; 'Timberwolves' suited a state that is home to the largest wolf population in the lower 48.

Which NBA franchise left Minneapolis for the West Coast in 1960?

Lakers: named for Minnesota's many lakes, the team won its first five championships in Minneapolis and kept the name after moving to far drier Los Angeles.

Which Pistons forward, the Wolves' first expansion pick, refused to report and was traded?

Rick Mahorn had just won the 1989 title as a Detroit starter when the Pistons left him unprotected; he refused to report to the new team and was traded before the season began.

In which venue did the Timberwolves play their first season?

The Metrodome, built for football and baseball, let a 22–60 expansion team draw more than a million fans in its first season, an NBA attendance record, with 49,551 at the home finale.

Which Wolves guard won the 1994 Slam Dunk Contest in Minneapolis with his 'East Bay Funk Dunk'?

Isaiah Rider, a rookie from Oakland, named the between-the-legs dunk for his home region and won the contest on his own team's floor during a 20-62 season.

In 1994 the original owners nearly sold the Timberwolves to a group planning to move them to which city?

New Orleans: boxing promoter Bob Arum's group agreed to buy the team for $152.5 million, but the NBA blocked the sale and a local buyer kept the Wolves in Minneapolis.

Which owner bought the Timberwolves in 1994 and kept them for three decades?

Glen Taylor tried to call off the sale in 2024, saying the buyers had missed a deadline, but an arbitration panel ruled against him in 2025.

Which Hall of Famer ran the Timberwolves' front office when they took Garnett fifth in the 1995 draft?

Kevin McHale, newly in charge of basketball operations, spent the fifth pick on a teenager when no player had jumped straight from high school to the NBA in 20 years.

Whom did the Timberwolves trade to Milwaukee on draft night 1996 for the rights to Stephon Marbury?

Ray Allen went to Milwaukee with a future first-round pick; Marbury lasted less than three seasons in Minnesota before his agent demanded a trade.

Kevin Garnett's six-year, $126 million Timberwolves contract of 1997 is widely blamed for helping to trigger which event in 1998?

An owners' lockout: they wanted to stop deals like Garnett's, and the 50-game season that followed came with a cap on individual salaries.

Which All-Star point guard did the Timberwolves receive in the 1999 three-team trade that sent Stephon Marbury to New Jersey?

Terrell Brandon arrived from Milwaukee, and the first-round pick New Jersey added to the deal became Wally Szczerbiak, an All-Star for Minnesota in 2002.

Which Timberwolves swingman, killed by a drunk driver in 2000, became the first player whose number the team retired?

Malik Sealy was driving home from Kevin Garnett's 24th birthday party when a pickup truck going the wrong way hit his SUV; the Wolves retired his No. 2.

A voided deal with which forward cost the Timberwolves three first-round picks and a $3.5 million fine in 2000?

Joe Smith had signed cut-price one-year deals on a secret promise of a rich contract later, which broke salary-cap rules; the league took five picks, then gave two back.

Which two veterans, acquired in 2003, helped Kevin Garnett's Wolves reach the conference finals?

Sam Cassell and Latrell Sprewell arrived in separate trades that summer, and the Wolves finally won a playoff series after seven straight first-round exits.

Which award did Kevin Garnett win in 2003–04, when the Timberwolves went 58–24 and took the West's top seed?

Most Valuable Player: runner-up to Tim Duncan a year earlier, Garnett took 120 of the 123 first-place votes and left Duncan a distant second.

Which big man came to the Timberwolves in the 2007 Kevin Garnett trade and averaged over 20 points a game for them?

Al Jefferson averaged 21 points a game in his first Minnesota season and 23 in his second, until a torn knee ligament in February 2009 cut it short.

Kevin Garnett's leap onto the scorer's table in 2004 came after a Game 7 win over which team?

Sacramento Kings: Chris Webber's tying three-pointer spun out at the buzzer, sealing an 83–80 win in which Garnett, on his birthday, had 32 points and 21 rebounds.

Which future Rookie of the Year did the Wolves draft sixth in 2006, then trade for Randy Foye?

Brandon Roy became a three-time All-Star in Portland before his knees gave out; he signed with Minnesota in 2012 for a comeback that lasted five games.

To which team did the Timberwolves trade Kevin Garnett in July 2007?

Boston Celtics: they gave up five players and two first-round picks, and Garnett won the championship in his first season there.

Whom did the Timberwolves draft third in 2008 and trade that night to Memphis for Kevin Love?

O. J. Mayo went to Memphis in an eight-player swap, and Love became a three-time All-Star in Minnesota.

Kevin Love's 31-point, 31-rebound game in 2010 was the NBA's first 30–30 since which center's in 1982?

Moses Malone had last done it, 28 years earlier; Love's 31 and 31 turned a 14-point halftime deficit against the Knicks into a win.

Which award did Kevin Love win in 2010–11, when he had 53 straight double-doubles for the Timberwolves?

Most Improved Player: Love led the league in rebounding and made his first All-Star team, even though the Wolves won only 17 games.

Which member of Magic Johnson's 1980s title teams coached the Timberwolves before being fired in 2011?

Kurt Rambis won four championships as a player in Los Angeles, but in Minnesota his teams lost 132 of 164 games.

Ricky Rubio's 2012 rookie season ended with an ACL tear in a collision with which player?

Kobe Bryant: Rubio's knee buckled in the final seconds of a three-point loss, and the Wolves, 21–20 that night, won only five more games all season.

Which team received Kevin Love in the 2014 three-way trade that brought that year's No. 1 pick to Minnesota?

Cleveland Cavaliers: LeBron James had re-signed with them weeks earlier, and with Love and Kyrie Irving they won the 2016 title.

Who was the first Timberwolves player to be named NBA Rookie of the Year?

Andrew Wiggins won it in 2014–15 even though the Wolves lost 66 games, the worst record in the league.

What nickname did the Timberwolves' high-flying young duo of Zach LaVine and the 2015 Rookie of the Year go by?

The Bounce Brothers: the pair went by the name from their rookie preseason, and LaVine backed it up by winning the 2015 and 2016 Slam Dunk Contests.

Whom did the Timberwolves take with their first ever No. 1 overall pick, in 2015?

Karl-Anthony Towns spent nine seasons in Minnesota, the last ending in the team's first conference finals in 20 years, before a 2024 trade to New York.

Which Timberwolves coach, who died of Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2015, is honoured with a banner in the rafters?

Flip Saunders led the Wolves to eight straight playoff appearances, and was back as both head coach and head of basketball operations when he fell ill.

Which coach had been an assistant on the Timberwolves' first coaching staff before returning to take charge in 2016?

Tom Thibodeau got his first NBA job on the expansion team's bench under Bill Musselman, and came back as both head coach and president of basketball operations.

Which star did the Timberwolves get from Chicago in 2017 for Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn and the seventh pick?

Jimmy Butler led the Wolves back to the playoffs in his only full season in Minnesota, then was traded away weeks into the next one.

After ending a 13-season playoff drought in 2018, the Timberwolves lost in the first round to which top-seeded team?

Houston Rockets: the Wolves had needed overtime on the season's final night just to qualify, then lost to the top seed in five games.

Whom did the Timberwolves select first overall in the 2020 draft?

Anthony Edwards was the team's second No. 1 pick in five years, and by 2024 he had led it to a first conference finals in two decades.

Which coach, hired from Toronto's staff in 2021, led the Wolves to the Western Conference finals in 2024 and 2025?

Chris Finch took over a 7–24 team in the middle of the 2020–21 season and had it in the playoffs the following year.

From which team did the Timberwolves acquire Rudy Gobert in July 2022?

Utah Jazz: Minnesota gave up five players and four first-round picks for Gobert, who won his fourth Defensive Player of the Year award there in 2024.

Which Timberwolves player, signed undrafted out of LSU in 2019, won the 2023–24 Sixth Man of the Year award?

Naz Reid started out on a two-way contract and, five years later, edged Malik Monk for the award by just ten voting points.

Which team did the Timberwolves beat 4–0 in 2024 for the first playoff series sweep in franchise history?

Phoenix Suns: the sweep was Minnesota's first playoff series win in 20 years, and it ended with the Wolves' head coach injured in a sideline collision with one of his own players.

Which team did the Timberwolves beat in a 2024 Game 7 after trailing by 20 points?

Denver Nuggets: the defending champions led by 15 at halftime on their own floor, and Minnesota's 98–90 win was the largest Game 7 comeback in at least 25 years.

Which team ended the Timberwolves' 2024 conference finals run in five games?

Dallas Mavericks: Luka Dončić won Game 2 with a step-back three over Rudy Gobert with three seconds left, and Dallas closed the series out in five.

Which two players did the Knicks send to Minnesota in 2024 for the Wolves' All-Star centre?

Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo arrived just before the 2024–25 season, and the reshaped Wolves still returned to the conference finals.

Which former baseball star joined Marc Lore to buy the Timberwolves in a deal agreed in 2021?

Alex Rodriguez and Lore agreed a $1.5 billion price, bought the team in stages, and had to win an arbitration case in 2025 before taking control.

Which team is the Timberwolves' sister club, included in the 2021 ownership deal?

The Minnesota Lynx missed the playoffs in ten of their first twelve seasons, then won four WNBA titles in seven years.

The Wolves' 2018–19 'City' uniform paid tribute to which Minnesota musician's album?

Prince's Purple Rain: made in partnership with his estate, the purple uniform carries a paisley leaf for Paisley Park and a shoulder pattern from the jacket he wore to perform the song.

Which two ABA teams played in Minnesota between the NBA's 1960 departure and the Timberwolves' arrival?

Muskies and Pipers: each lasted one season in Minnesota; the Muskies left for Miami, and the Pipers, ABA champions when they arrived, went back to Pittsburgh.

What is the name of the Timberwolves' mascot?

Crunch is a gray wolf, a nod to the wild wolves of northern Minnesota that gave the team its name.

In which venue did the Timberwolves open the 1999–2000 regular season with two games in Japan?

Tokyo Dome: Kevin Garnett scored 34 in a loss as the visiting team, then 31 the next night as the Wolves, now the hosts, won to split the series.

The Timberwolves had the NBA's worst record in 1991–92 but slipped to third in the draft lottery, missing which No. 1 pick?

Shaquille O'Neal went first to a team that had won six more games; Minnesota, 15–67, was left to take Christian Laettner with the third pick.

The 2020–21 Timberwolves 'City' uniform paid homage to what state symbol?

The North Star: Minnesota's state motto, chosen by its first governor and adopted in 1861, is L'Étoile du Nord, French for 'Star of the North'.

In which city do the Iowa Wolves, the Timberwolves' G League affiliate, play their home games?

Des Moines: the team was the Iowa Energy until the Timberwolves bought it in 2017 and renamed it after the parent club.

Kevin Garnett returned to Minnesota in a 2015 trade from which team?

Brooklyn Nets: Garnett waived his no-trade clause to come back, in a straight swap for Thaddeus Young, and retired in 2016 after 21 seasons.

The expansion Timberwolves earned their first ever win against which team, then led by Charles Barkley?

Philadelphia 76ers: after three straight losses to start life in the NBA, the Wolves won 125–118 in overtime despite Barkley's 31 points.

Which former Chicago Bull fought back tears after scoring a career-high 50 points for the Timberwolves on Halloween night in 2018?

Derrick Rose, the league's 2011 MVP before years of injuries derailed him, scored 50 in a 128–125 home win as the crowd chanted 'MVP'.

Which veteran point guard, acquired in a 2023 trade, started for the Timberwolves in the 2024 and 2025 conference finals?

Mike Conley joined a franchise that had won only two playoff series in its history, both in 2004; with him at the point it won four in 2024 and 2025.

Which team received Christian Laettner from the Timberwolves in 1996 and saw him make his only All-Star team a year later?

Atlanta Hawks: Laettner went with Sean Rooks for Andrew Lang and Spud Webb, less than four years after Minnesota had drafted him third overall.

Which high-scoring swingman joined the Timberwolves in the January 2006 trade that sent Wally Szczerbiak away?

Ricky Davis, once notorious for shooting at his own basket to chase a triple-double, came with a second-round pick that became Nikola Peković.

Which team ended the Timberwolves' second straight conference finals run in 2025?

Oklahoma City Thunder: they won the series 4–1, holding Minnesota to nine points in the first quarter of the clincher, and went on to take the title.

Whom did the Timberwolves receive from Golden State for Andrew Wiggins in February 2020?

D'Angelo Russell cost Minnesota Wiggins and the first-round pick that became Jonathan Kuminga, and Wiggins went on to win the 2022 title with Golden State.

Which former team of Patrick Beverley did the Timberwolves beat in a 2022 play-in game to reach the playoffs?

Los Angeles Clippers: Minnesota won 109–104, and Beverley, traded away by the Clippers eight months earlier, was in tears during the on-court celebration.