RandBall: Wolves President Chris Wright on the marketing of the team We spent some time Tuesday afternoon at the Minnesota Associated Press Sports Association's annual meeting, where one of the sessions featured Timberwolves President Chris Wright. Here are a few excerpts from what Wright had to say about how the team will try to market some of its young players:
RandBall: Wolves President Chris Wright on the marketing of the team
June 29, 2011 at 2:40AM
"Kevin Garnett became the brand of the Timberwolves, and that's wrong. Then you're putting players before the team. It's important that Kevin Garnett be branded when he's part of it. But he can't be the brand. ... I love Kevin Love. What he does for us on the court and off the court is absolutely remarkable, and he knows I think that. ... But we can never let one of those guys become that guy again. Our brand has to encompass a group of guys who hunt and play as a team and as a pack. Then we have to decide how we're going to market that. A lot of people in the NBA disagree. The NBA is all about branding star players. And the league has been built around that. But ... I think Minnesota fans want team-first, they want lunch bucket, they want blue-collar workers, they want somebody to go out and work very, very hard in front of them whether they win or lose."
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Star outfielder Juan Soto and the New York Mets have agreed to a record $765 million, 15-year contract, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press, believed to be the largest pact in team sports history.
