Report: Timberwolves Coach Flip Saunders Diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma

Head coach and basketball operations president for the Minnesota Timberwolves, Flip Saunders, revealed that he has been diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma and is currently receiving treatment.

"I am taking it step by step and day by day to understand how to best manage this process," Saunders, 60, said. "I want to thank Dr. [Sheldon] 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."

Saunders found out about his cancer roughly eight weeks ago after getting examined by Burns, the team's vice president of medical services. Saunders immediately started chemotherapy after the diagnosis. He stated that the doctors have told him that he has a "very treatable and curable form of cancer."

Saunders joined the Timberwolves' organization 10 years ago as the general manager. During the same year (1995), he was named head coach of the team. From 1997 to 2004, Saunders led the Timberwolves to eight consecutive playoff appearances. In 2005, after a 25-26 start to the season, Saunders was fired. He later returned to the organization in 2013 as the president of basketball operations. In 2014, he was named the head coach again.

Saunders, who is determined to defeat the cancer, will still be coaching the team uninterrupted this season.