Yahoo Sports senior NBA analyst Kevin O’Connor is joined by Minnesota Timberwolves co-owners Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore to talk about their expectations with the current roster and the future of the Timberwolves. Hear the full conversation on “The Kevin O’Connor Show” and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen.
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Video Transcript
So when you think about where Mark is right now, having the success he’s had, making the improvements he has, how do you balance patience with him knowing that he’s not quite at his prime yet versus aggression with wanting to build around him and winning now?
Yeah, I mean, we’re just looking to make smart decisions, right?
And, uh, you know, we haven’t made it to the Western Conference Finals two years in a row.
I think, you know, we have a situation where we’ve got a very healthy roster and I think if you look at all the contracts, they’re all on good contracts.
You would say add or in the money.
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We don’t have any contracts that are bad contracts.
It’s really hard to recover from a bad contract, but if you’ve got a lot of good contracts and a lot of good contracts, it’s really hard to recover from a bad contract.
But if you’ve got a lot of good contracts and a lot of assets, I would not go anywhere else.
I love, I love, definitely not.
Just looking at his impact on winning, I mean, no, he’s one of the best defenders in the world.
Kevin, if you look at his career, I bet he’s in the top five winningest players.
So all he does is win.
He goes to the playoffs.
I think every year he’s been to the playoffs.
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He’s a 100%, and he’s completely converted the whole franchise.
When he came, before and after.
Rudy’s a monster and we love him.
Now, I am curious, A-Rod, you talked during your presser today about, you know, you’re a baseball guy and you said you’re kind of rounding first right now in your basketball knowledge.
What are some specific things you’ve learned about team building in the NBA in your years now as you’ve pursued Minnesota Timberwolves ownership?
Well, Kev, like I said in the press conference, I mean, sports are sports, and winning is kind of evergreen for any sport.
There’s probably 70% that doesn’t apply, but there’s about 30 or more that does apply.
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And that’s, you know, how you treat people, how you recruit people, how you enhance the experience when people come in the building, how you enhance the experience when people come in the building.
Uh, II’m a big believer that you either, you know, bring energy to the room or you take energy out of the room, and we’re very fortunate we have a lot of people in our, in our ecosystem that bring a lot of energy and everyone’s aligned and.
You know, even like Anthony Edwards or young players being here, Finch, uh, it’s all support and it feels really good, but I’ve been a world champion.
I understand what it, what it looks like and what it feels like, and, uh, I think that that could be helpful.