McHale disappointed as Wolves say it's over

Kevin McHale awoke Wednesday morning around 7 o'clock as he usually does. He sipped a cup of coffee. He called some old friends.

And then the Minnesota basketball legend who fell from grace during 16 seasons as the Timberwolves' basketball boss contemplated what he will do next.

"I don't know," he said. "I'll find something to do. I always do."

He was talking specifically about his plans for the rest of Wednesday, but he could have been referring to a life that now is without basketball.

McHale met Tuesday night with David Kahn, the new Wolves president of basketball operations, for the third time formally to discuss whether McHale would return as the team's coach, a job he accepted last winter when he was stripped of his front-office duties.

The first two times were over dinner. This one was not and lasted only about 45 minutes, just enough time for Kahn to tell McHale that he will not be back as coach.

"He didn't really give me any reasons," McHale said, "other than the fact he wanted to make a change."

Kahn praised McHale profusely as a player, a person and an NBA manager during a Wednesday afternoon Target Center news conference that confirmed an awaited decision that Wolves rookie Kevin Love inadvertently had leaked to the world with a brief Twitter Internet post overnight Tuesday. Kahn gave little more explanation than calling it a move that was best for the franchise.

The son of an Iron Range miner, McHale transformed himself from a gangly, unknown high school player from Hibbing, Minn., into a University of Minnesota star and then a three-time NBA champion and Basketball Hall of Fame player with the Boston Celtics.

In 16 seasons as the Wolves' basketball-operations architect, he directed a floundering expansion franchise into a perennial playoff contender built around budding young superstar Kevin Garnett. Then, almost as swiftly and stunningly, he guided the Wolves back to whence they came, annual losers in the league's draft lottery with a rebuilding project that has won just 46 games the past two seasons.

"It was a long run," McHale said Wednesday morning. "We had some success. Not as much as everybody would like. Not as much as I would have liked."

When he traded away Garnett to Boston two summers ago and Garnett won that NBA title in his first season with McHale's former Celtics team, McHale became, in his home state, the reviled symbol of a failed franchise.

"I hate leaving it like that," McHale said. "I think we have a good, young group of guys. I think these kids can play. I think they can do a lot of good stuff together. And I thought we were on the verge of moving up. When you're on a rebuilding program like that, it takes a little bit of time. It's disappointing not to be able to see that through."

Kahn and McHale formally met three times -- and a couple of other times informally -- to discuss the coaching job, which McHale assumed Dec. 8 after owner Glen Taylor fired coach Randy Wittman and asked him to leave his front-office duties and replace Wittman.

McHale coached the season's final 63 games and in that time, he often complained about the travel and media responsibilities that come with the job and never committed to coaching the team beyond its April 16 season finale.

On Wednesday morning, however, McHale said there was no question he wanted the job and he used the word "mistake" to describe Kahn's decision to look elsewhere for a coach.

"I'm disappointed," he said. "The players had really been reaching out to me, saying, 'We really want you to coach, we think we can make a run.' The players felt so strongly, that was a big part of it. Yeah, I wanted to do it."

McHale said he and Kahn discussed the need for change with the roster, which McHale had reassembled after he traded Garnett, and began making calls to former NBA head coaches to find a strong top assistant coach. But in the end, McHale never received a job offer.

Kahn and McHale met for the third and final time Tuesday evening. McHale returned home to North Oaks, called his players and told them he would not coach them next season.

Within an hour or two, Love inadvertently told the world with a Twitter posting that read, "Today is a sad day ... Kevin McHale will NOT be back as head coach next season."

About an hour later, Love added: "P.S. I am not a breaking news day ... I had no idea no one knew..."

By the time McHale awoke Wednesday morning, the world -- and many of his friends in basketball -- knew the news.

'I had a lot of fun'

Asked whether he felt he could have worked for Kahn, McHale said, "Look, I met with the guy three times. I don't know. Most people, I've known them for years and years. I don't have many acquaintances I only met twice. I have no feel for that."

A perennial member of the NBA's all-interview team when he played, McHale seems like a natural to return to broadcasting, most likely with a national network. He teamed with then-Wolves announcer Kevin Harlan for some memorable television broadcasts when he joined the franchise shortly after retiring from the Celtics in 1993.

What will he do now that his 16-year run with the Timberwolves is over?

"It is, huh?" he asked. "Who knows? It just happened last night. I don't know what I'm going to do yet. We'll see what shakes out.

"Look, it was a great learning experience. I met great people. I had a lot of fun. We took a team that didn't win much to a team that at least got to the conference finals. We tried rebuilding again. It just didn't work out."