In sports, and especially life, it’s not uncommon to begin with one problem and discover another. The hits just keep coming for the Minnesota Timberwolves, who keep discovering problem after problem in this trying season.
What was supposed to be the season that saw the T-Wolves return to the playoffs has been nothing short of a nightmare. At 23-43 and at the bottom of the Western Conference, the T-Wolves faithful surely wishes they could hit the reset button on this season.
First Ricky Rubio tore his ACL at the end of the 2011-’12 season. While Rubio has returned, he has struggled to find the electric form he showed as a rookie.
Their superstar forward and face of the franchise, Kevin Love, was the next to fall. Love injured himself in the preseason while doing knuckle pushups. A broken hand caused him to miss the first month of the season.
While Love was sidelined and Rubio was working his way back, the Wolves managed to stay afloat and remain in contention for a bottom seed in the Western Conference playoffs. This was largely attributed to their veteran offseason acquisitions, Andrei Kirilenko and Brandon Roy. Roy, who has a well-documented history of knee problems, continued to feel the effects that caused him to retire just a year ago, and ended his season again.
Many believed Love would return to save the day and keep Minnesota in the playoff hunt, but his return to the court was short-lived as he re-injured his hand in January. Love hasn’t played since and will likely miss the rest of the season.
Love’s season ending injury shifted the focus of Timberwolves fans to next year. There’s always next year and everyone will be back. Everyone but one: head coach Rick Adelman. Adelman, who missed 11 games in January due to the health of his wife, is reportedly considering resigning at the end of the season if her health does not improve. More from Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com: “Timberwolves coach Rick Adelman, after twice contemplating quitting this season, may resign in the summer if his wife continues to have health issues, he told NBA.com on Thursday.
Adelman left the team for three weeks — 11 games — in January.
“They’ve been terrific with everything,” he said of management, as wife Mary Kay was hospitalized and doctors tried to determine the cause of seizures. Now, clearly worn down by difficult months on the personal front and a challenging season on the court as the Timberwolves drown in a flurry of injuries, he admitted, “there’s a couple times I really struggled whether I should come back.” He later added: “I’m sure I’ll be thinking more about it as we move on here (through the season).”
More from Howard-Cooper: “The eighth-winningest coach in NBA history, and second among active coaches behind only Denver’s George Karl, said Mary Kay is “doing better” and “maintaining right now. She’s just on a lot of medicine. We’ll just have to wait and see. We go back to the doctor in April and see what they have to say.” When asked about the possibility of not returning in 2013-14, Adelman told NBA.com, “I think it’s something I’m just going to have to sit down with my wife and family and just talk about and see where we’re going with this. The most important thing is where we’re going with her health. Whatever happens will happen naturally.”
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