Minnesota Timberwolves coach and president of basketball operations Flip Saunders died Sunday after a four-month battle with Hodgkin's lymphoma. He was 60 years old.
Saunders, who was not expected to return to the team this season, was hospitalized last month when his conditioned worsened.
The Wolves open the season Wednesday night at the Los Angeles Lakers.
When the team announced Saunders' leave of absence on Sept. 11, his assistant Sam Mitchell took over as interim coach and general manager Milt Newton assumed the daily operations of the organization.
Saunders' illness did not appear terminal when he first went public with his condition in August, calling it a "very treatable and curable form of cancer.