Minnesota Timberwolves are a professional basketball team that plays in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team competes in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. The Timberwolves play in the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The Timberwolves entered the NBA in the 1989-1990 season. They had their first winning season in 1997-1998, led by forwards Tom Gugliotta and Kevin Garnett and guard Stephon Marbury. In the next two seasons, Gugliotta and Marbury left the team, but Garnett emerged as one of the stars of the NBA.
Garnett was named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player for the 2003-2004 regular season. The Timberwolves won the Midwest Division that season, led by Garnett, forwards Latrell Sprewell and Wally Szczerbiak, and guard Sam Cassell. Minnesota defeated the Denver Nuggets and Sacramento Kings in the first two rounds of the playoffs, the first playoff victories for the team since it entered the league. The Timberwolves lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in the conference finals. They did not make the playoffs from 2005 through 2017. The Timberwolves qualified for the playoffs in 2018, led by center Karl-Anthony Towns and forward Andrew Wiggins. Towns and guard Anthony Edwards led the team to the playoffs in 2022 and 2023.
