Some 1,110 miles north of where he once lived, Timberwolves General Manager Scott Layden nonetheless came home a little bit Tuesday night at Target Center.
Until he and longtime friend Tom Thibodeau were hired last spring, Layden worked the past four years in San Antonio's successful front office. The Spurs' visit Tuesday enabled him and player personnel director Brian Pauga — a nine-year Spurs employee Layden brought with him to Minnesota — to visit with some longtime colleagues and old friends.
"I was lucky to work there four years," said Layden, the son of an NBA coach who has spent his adult life working in basketball. "I often say I can't believe I had a job there because it is such a special place."
Thibodeau visited San Antonio twice on a year's sabbatical last season. He sat in on meetings and studied the organization in which Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, GM R.C. Buford and Layden, among many others, all have worked collaboratively in winning five NBA titles.
"We ate well, had a little wine, relaxed," Popovich said Tuesday, describing Thibodeau's two visits. "It was fun just to talk basketball with somebody else."
At the time, Layden said he had no clue he and Thibodeau would work together in Minnesota a year later.
"None, zero," Layden said. "It is funny how things work out. How do you know?"
Thibodeau has known Popovich since he was an assistant coach to Larry Brown and Don Nelson long ago.
