Rick Adelman clarifies he doesn’t mind working with Minnesota Timberwolves GM David Kahn – NBA News
Newly appointed Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Rick Adelman has cleared the air regarding his relationship with team General Manager David Kahn. Adelman said there was no truth at all in reports of the two not being at the same
page and he was looking forward to working with the executive.
Ironically, the two have known each other for over two decades and this is thought to be the major reason Kahn backed off from other candidates such as Terry Porter and Don Nelson, in favour of Adelman.
"I just feel I can do this," Adelman said Wednesday after being handed the reins at the franchise. "I need good people around me, I need good people in the organization. So I feel I have a lot left in the tank, I've been doing
it a long time, I finished last year and I felt good about it and I'm hoping it's going to continue."
The good people around him include David Kahn. Adelman made sure he was clear on the matter,
"I wouldn't be here if that was the case," he said regarding rumours of a rift between the two.
“I started talking to him a week after I got back from Houston. We had a lot of discussion. I don't know where that came from, but why would I want to come to a place and work with somebody that I didn't like?" he added.
The rumours started because of the unusual delay in the announcement of Adelman’s hiring. David Kahn is not the most appreciated GM around the NBA after he made a meal of firing ex-head coach Kurt Rambis, dragging the matter on
for months.
So, when it was clear that Adelman was going to get the job, around a month ago from now, it seemed suspicious to many fans as to why there was such a long delay. Kahn later clarified that it was Rick who needed the time to go
over his decision and make up his mind, and Kahn didn’t want to pressure him into a move.
The GM now hopes that the whole deal can be put aside and said he was happy Adelman had finally signed. He was confident that the experience and nous that the veteran coach brings with him would be very beneficial to the Timberwolves
in the long run.
The choice of Adelman was also made keeping in mind his good relationship with star power forward Kevin Love. Love has known Rick for a long time and publicly expressed favourable views for the coach when the search was still on.
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