Difficult news out of the Timberwolves’ front office today, as Head Coach and President of Basketball Operations Flip Saunders revealed that he has been undergoing chemotherapy treatment for Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He and the team released a joint statement announcing the news:
Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations and Head Coach Flip Saunders today announced that he has been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and is currently undergoing chemotherapy treatment for what his doctors called a “very treatable and curable form of cancer.”
The initial diagnosis came eight weeks ago during an examination by Timberwolves Vice President of Team Medical Services Sheldon Burns. Saunders immediately started the treatment process with a medical team at Mayo Clinic.
“I am taking it step by step and day by day to understand how to best manage this process,” said Saunders, who has attended to all of his team duties throughout the period of diagnosis and treatment.
“I want to thank Dr. Burns as well as my medical team at Mayo Clinic for their hard work in diagnosing my situation and creating a plan to help me achieve a cancer-free outcome. I am attacking this with the same passion I do everything in my life, knowing this is a serious issue. I also know that God has prepared me to fight this battle.”
Saunders will continue uninterrupted with his duties as Timberwolves’ President of Basketball Operations and Head Coach.
As the final sentence of his statement declared, he will continue to work through his treatments – one can only hope that this is a positive sign for his prognosis. Nevertheless, we at A Wolf Among Wolves will be keeping our thoughts with Mr. Saunders and his family and hoping for a clean bill of health as soon as possible.