1989–90 Minnesota Timberwolves season

The 1989–90 Minnesota Timberwolves season was the first season for the Minnesota Timberwolves in the National Basketball Association. Nearly 30 years after the Lakers left Minneapolis, Minnesota for Los Angeles, California, the NBA returned to Minnesota with an expansion team known as the "Timberwolves"; the Orlando Magic also joined the NBA in 1989 via expansion. The team revealed their inaugural logo of a blue wolf with green eyes in front of a silver basketball, and new uniforms with the color scheme of blue, green, white, and silver. For their inaugural season, the Timberwolves played their home games at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, which was home to the NFL's Minnesota Vikings, and also home to the MLB's Minnesota Twins.

In the 1989 NBA expansion draft, the Timberwolves selected veteran players like Rick Mahorn, Tyrone Corbin, Steve Johnson, Brad Lohaus and Scott Roth. The team also signed free agents, Tony Campbell, who won an NBA championship with the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1988 NBA Finals, and rookie small forward Sam Mitchell out of Mercer University; Mitchell was drafted by the Houston Rockets as a third-round draft pick in the 1985 NBA draft, but was released to free agency during the preseason, and previously played overseas in France, and in the Continental Basketball Association. Other free agents included Tod Murphy, who previously played overseas in Spain, and Sidney Lowe.

However, Mahorn never played for the Timberwolves due to a contract dispute, and was later on traded to the Philadelphia 76ers; Mahorn previously won a championship with the Detroit Pistons, in which they defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in a four-game sweep in the 1989 NBA Finals. The Timberwolves received the tenth overall pick in the 1989 NBA draft, and selected point guard Pooh Richardson from the University of California, Los Angeles, and also hired Bill Musselman as their first ever head coach.

The Timberwolves made their NBA regular season debut on November 3, 1989, in which the team lost to the Seattle SuperSonics on the road, 106–94 at the Seattle Center Coliseum; off the bench, Corbin led the team with 20 points and 8 rebounds, while Roth contributed 19 points. Five days later on November 8, the team made their home debut at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, losing to the Chicago Bulls by a score of 96–84 with 35,427 in attendance; All-Star guard Michael Jordan led the Bulls with 45 points, while Campbell led the Timberwolves with a double-double of 31 points and 10 rebounds. Just two nights later on November 10, the Timberwolves won their first ever game in franchise history, defeating the 76ers at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in overtime, 125–118; Campbell finished with 38 points, while Corbin posted a double-double of 36 points and 13 rebounds, and Roth added 20 points off the bench.

The Timberwolves struggled losing 11 of their first 13 games of the regular season, which included a seven-game losing streak in November. The team posted two nine-game losing streaks between December and January, and later on held a 10–36 record at the All-Star break. At mid-season, the team traded Lohaus to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for former University of Minnesota center, Randy Breuer. The Timberwolves lost eight of their final nine games, and finished their inaugural season in sixth place in the Midwest Division with a record of 22 wins and 60 losses.

Campbell led the Timberwolves in scoring, averaging 23.2 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game, while Corbin averaged 14.7 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 2.1 steals per game, and Mitchell provided the team with 12.7 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, reaching 20 or more points on 14 occasions as a 26 year-old rookie. In addition, Richardson contributed 11.4 points, 6.8 assists, and 1.6 steals per game, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team, while Breuer provided with 10.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game in 51 games after the trade, and Murphy averaged 8.3 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. Meanwhile, Roth contributed 6.8 points per game, and Lowe provided with 2.3 points and 4.2 assists per game, but struggled as he only shot .319 in field-goal percentage. Campbell finished in third place in Most Improved Player voting, while Musselman finished in sixth place in Coach of the Year voting.

The Timberwolves led the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 1,072,572 at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome during the regular season. Following the season, Roth was released to free agency, and Lowe retired. The team's new primary logo, and new uniforms would both remain in use until 1996.