BEVERLY HILLS, MICH. – Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau was 31 years old and possessed a luxuriant head of hair the first time he coached an NBA game at The Palace of Auburn Hills.
On Friday, he will coach and the Wolves will play there for the last time.
The prototype for modern-day NBA arenas when it opened in 1988 with 180 luxury suites reaching from courtside toward the rafters, the Palace — as it’s more simply called — has been home to three Pistons NBA championship teams as well as the infamous 2004 “Malice at the Palace” brawl.