Ryan Philip Saunders (born April 28, 1986) is an American basketball assistant coach for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is known for his work as a Head coach for the Minnesota Timberwolves and in player development with the Washington Wizards staff. He is the son of longtime NBA coach Flip Saunders. Early life Born in Medina, Minnesota, Saunders graduated from Wayzata High School in Plymouth, Minnesota in 2004. College playing career A walk-on, Saunders played basketball at the University of Minnesota from 2004 to 2008 as a guard. He played only 20 games in his first two seasons in a backup role. Saunders redshirted the 2006–07 season due to a wrist injury and did not play any games in the 2007–08 season. Saunders graduated from Minnesota in 2008 with a bachelor's degree in sport management. Coaching career After he achieved his bachelor's degree and finished playing college basketball, Saunders was a graduate manager under Tubby Smith in the 2008–09 season while pursuing a master's degree in applied kinesiology. In 2009, he began coaching in the NBA, becoming an assistant coach for the Washington Wizards. Then, starting in 2014, he was an assistant coach for the Minnesota Timberwolves. On January 6, 2019, Saunders was promoted to interim head coach of the Timberwolves after Tom Thibodeau was fired, also becoming the youngest head coach in the NBA for the 2018–19 season. On January 8, Saunders got his first win in his debut as head coach when the Timberwolves defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder, and became the youngest head coach to win in his debut since 1978. On May 20, the Timberwolves announced that Saunders signed to a multi-year deal to become the team's permanent head coach, removing his "interim" status. At age 33, Saunders became the youngest head coach in the league, despite having over 10 years of NBA experience under his belt. On February 21, 2021, Saunders was fired by the Timberwolves, after leading them to a 7–24 record. In June 2022, The Denver Nuggets hired Saunders as an assistant coach under Michael Malone. Head coaching record |- | style="text-align:left;"|Minnesota | style="text-align:left;"| | 42 || 17 || 25 || || style="text-align:center;"|5th in Northwest || — || — || — || — | style="text-align:center;"|Missed playoffs |- | style="text-align:left;"|Minnesota | style="text-align:left;"| | 64 || 19 || 45 || || style="text-align:center;"|5th in Northwest || — || — || —