Former Timberwolves head coach Sam Mitchell hasn’t talked to anyone in the Wolves organization since he was fired after the season ended – and the way he was treated isn’t sitting well with him.
Mitchell told 1500 ESPN’s Darren Wolfson that Wolves owner Glen Taylor fired him during a 30-second phone call.
“To be treated that way… that just did something to me. It just left a bad taste in my mouth,” Mitchell told Wolfson. “I don’t know where to place it emotionally or mentally… it’s just tough. Still to this day I don’t think about it or dwell on it because I understand that the NBA is not fair and life is not fair. Bad things happen to good people all the time and good things happen to bad people all the time.”
“I’ve always held Glen Taylor in high regard. Just to be treated that way – a 30-second phone call – it just didn’t sit well with me. It’s something I don’t understand and I’ve had a hard time trying to figure out where do I place this.”
Mitchell said Taylor couldn’t have done less for him.
“Minnesota was home for me for a long time and I just never thought I would be treated that way out the door,” he said.
Just recorded long interview w/ Sam Mitchell. Baffled that Thibs hasn't reached out, among other things. Post tomorrow on podcast. #twolves
— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) August 31, 2016
Mitchell is also upset because new head coach Tom Thibodeau never called him. He did get a call from general manager Scott Layden, but not until a month and a half after he had been fired.
“It was so disrespectful to even call me a month and a half later,” Mitchell said of Layden. “When I realized it was him I was hanging up the phone before he was even talking.”
