The Wolves basketball boss has just made what he calls perhaps the most important decision he will make on the job — choosing to hire Kurt Rambis as the next coach — and has followed up with another letter to the team’s fans everywhere. Here it is:

Dear Timberwolves fans and supporters,

I’m pleased to announce that we’ve reached an agreement in principle with Kurt Rambis to be our new head coach. The search was extensive and thorough, and I’m completely confident that Kurt is the right man to help us develop into a championship-caliber team.

Kurt played for Pat Riley and coached alongside Phil Jackson, arguably two of the three greatest coaches in NBA history. He is ready for this.

Each candidate for this job had three threshold issues they had to agree to in order to be considered:

(1) I want our franchise to become the league leader in player development, and player development starts with the head coach. It is his job to execute this vision.

(2) We will be a running, up-tempo team. Yes, there will be many instances when we will need to rely upon Al Jefferson and a halfcourt offense, but our identity will be fastbreak basketball.

As a player, Kurt was a member of the Los Angeles Lakers “Showtime” teams. Those teams thrived by using an up-tempo style, yet knew how to score in the halfcourt when necessary. They also played outstanding defense. Kurt is committed to employing such a style that will complement the young, athletic players we are assembling.

(3) The minutes distributed to our young nucleus in the next two years must be done with an eye toward the big picture and not the short term. Meaning, we must play our young players consistently and let them learn through their mistakes, even if it means sacrificing a win or two along the way.

With his vast experience in the NBA as a championship player and coach, Kurt has the ability to help lay the foundation for what we aim to be — NBA champions. He is, by all accounts, hard-working and a hands-on teacher. He will help shape and mold our players to bring out the best in them.

The two other finalists for this position, Mark Jackson and Elston Turner, are tremendous persons worthy of a head coaching opportunity. They are class individuals. But, in the end, I believed Kurt’s personality, background and experience made him the best fit for us.

As always, thank you for your interest and passion.

David Kahn

This entry was posted on Monday, August 10th, 2009 at 3:48 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.