The most successful coach in Minnesota Timberwolves history almost certainly would be nowhere near his second straight trip to the Western Conference finals were it not for the pettiness of the school board in Reading, Pa., 24 years ago.
Back then, Chris Finch was finishing his fourth season as a head coach in Sheffield, England, and he was looking for a way to get home. He applied to be the head coach at Reading High School, a basketball powerhouse and one of the biggest schools in Pennsylvania. Finch knew the program well. He had starred at Wilson High School, just 5 miles up the road, in the 1980s.
That turned out to be a big problem.
Finch interviewed for, and was offered, the job of coaching the Red Knights, who were once coached by Princeton legend Pete Carril and boasted Donyell Marshall, Stu Jackson and Lonnie Walker IV among their famous alumni.
After years of moving around and chasing various coaching jobs, Finch envisioned going back home to Pennsylvania to set down roots. It was the kind of job people take not as a stepping stone to something better, but as the job of a lifetime, chasing championships and molding young minds as the pillar in the community that raised him.
“At the time, it was my dream job,” Finch said. “And it was kind of yanked from me due to local politics, which caught me totally by surprise.”
Read more below about Finch sticking with the plan that guided Minnesota to the Western Conference finals.
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Timberwolves coach Chris Finch stuck to the plan. It led to another West finals