22 years later, a Musselman connection

ORLANDO — Just think of the odds you could have gotten on this one in 1990:

Back then, Scott Brooks was a former second-round draft pick entering his third NBA season when the Wolves acquired him in a trade with Philadelphia. Tom Thibodeau was a former Harvard assistant working his first NBA job, which many assumed consisted primarily of picking up coach Bill Musselman's shirts at the cleaners.

All these years later, the two guys Musselman brought to Minnesota and a fledgling NBA franchise coached against each other in the NBA All-Star Game.

"He probably looked at me and said I had no shot at playing in the NBA much longer than that year," Brooks said, "and I probably looked at him and said he had no shot at coaching in the NBA longer than that year."

Brooks played 10 NBA seasons with six teams, a short, limited point guard who succeeded mostly through his determination and smarts and then learned the coaching craft as an assistant to George Karl, Eric Musselman and P.J. Carlesimo before he took over at Oklahoma City early in the 2008-09 season.

Thibodeau paid his coaching dues for nearly two decades, tutoring as an NBA assistant under Jerry Tarkanian, John Lucas, Jeff Van Gundy and Doc Rivers, and waited patiently for the right chance to become a head coach. That arrived in 2010, when he was named to coach Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls.

Brooks was named the NBA coach of the year in 2010. Thibodeau won it in 2011. Add Sam Mitchell's 2007 award and that's three winners in five years who either played or coached for Musselman on those early Timberwolves teams.

"If we weren't doing this, I probably would have been a bagger in a grocery store and Tom probably would be collecting carts in the parking lot," Brooks said. "It's pretty cool that we both from our Minnesota days are in this position."

For now Orlando center Dwight Howard greeted the sellout Amway Center crowd before Sunday's game, welcoming everyone to "our city" from the bottom of his heart. Howard's agent, of course, has received permission to discuss trades with Dallas, New Jersey and the Los Angeles Lakers before the March 15 league deadline.

"Exactly what I said, nothing more, nothing less," Howard said after the game when asked what he was trying to say. "What else do you want me to say? I said exactly how I feel. That came from the heart."

His take The Timberwolves' rise -- evidenced by two-time All- Star Kevin Love's victory in Saturday's three-point contest as well as the weekend participation by rookies Ricky Rubio and Derrick Williams -- has been a part of the All-Star weekend discussion here and there, including on TNT's coverage.

Here are a couple of comments from analyst Chuck Barkley:

• "The only thing that concerns me with Kevin Love is, I don't want him to fall in love with shooting threes. I don't want my power forward being a great three-point shooter. If he makes a 12-, 15-foot jumper, I'd rather have him shoot that."

A little help Love expressed his gratitude to Wolves assistant coach Terry Porter after winning the three-point contest. "This is for him," Love said, displaying the trophy he won.

Porter helped drill Love on the routine involving shooting five racks of basketballs during three or four practices in Minnesota. Porter twice was runner-up in the contest.