Welsh coach Tim Lewis eyes NBA championship with the Timberwolves
Tim Lewis, the first British‑born coach in the NBA, will be looking to help Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves capture the franchise’s inaugural title. The 2026‑27 season arrives after a decade in which eight different teams have hoisted the Larry O’Brien Trophy, making another new champion a realistic possibility.
Lewis’s journey began in Saint Asaph, Wales, where he played for the national team in the 1990s. Since then he has coached across the globe, including stints with the Thailand and Qatar national squads, club roles in Germany, Belgium, Canada, the United States and Panama, and a recent head‑coaching position with Japan’s Eneos Sunflowers, guiding them to an Empress Cup victory in January. He also spent more than fifteen years developing England and Great Britain age‑group teams and served as an assistant to Minnesota head coach Chris Finch at the 2012 London Olympics.
The friendship between Lewis and Finch stretches back 25 years. “We played against each other when I was at Crystal Palace and Chris was at Sheffield Sharks,” Lewis recalled. “I’ve had stops with Chris in Belgium and spent six months in Houston with him before the Olympics. We’ve become almost like brothers.” After a brief earlier tenure with Minnesota, Lewis returned to Japan for three years as a head coach, but Finch’s persistent invitations eventually brought him back. “For the last year and a half, Chris kept knocking on my door, saying ‘come back, come back.’ I finally gave in this summer and returned for a larger role, with more input on what’s happening, and I’m excited,” he said.
Lewis first joined the Timberwolves organization as a temporary coach for their G League affiliate, the Iowa Wolves, during the COVID‑19 pandemic, before moving to a full‑time staff position the following season. His responsibilities centered on post‑game analysis, a task that was new to the club. “I would go through all our game plans,” he told BBC Sport Wales. “I added a bit of player development, but it was time‑consuming and nobody had done it before. Teams usually analyze before games, not after, so I critiqued what happened and kept that role.”
Now his duties have broadened. “Pablo Prigioni will lead the offense, and my job is to help design those game plans,” Lewis explained. “It’s a full assistant role with responsibility for offensive strategy. I study the opponent’s defense and look for ways to exploit it, and I also work with a couple of our young big men on development.”
Minnesota’s backcourt has also been refreshed. In July, the Timberwolves acquired Josh Green and LaMelo Ball in a four‑team trade. Ball, who made 272 three‑pointers last season – the second‑most in the league – forms a promising pairing with Edwards. “Anthony and LaMelo are exciting to watch,” Lewis said. “LaMelo can now throw the lob, making Rudy a bigger rim threat, which we didn’t have before. It takes pressure off Anthony. Defenders will find it harder to double‑team him when LaMelo is on the floor.” He added that Edwards is “easy to coach,” describing him as “an immense talent, very responsive, a great kid overall, coachable and eager to improve.”
The Timberwolves face a tough opening schedule, beginning with games against Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Milwaukee Bucks and the Miami Heat. “We start hard, Miami, Orlando, then Toronto,” Lewis noted. “They all have three bruising power forwards, a spot where we’re a bit light. Everyone worries about our size at the four, but Chris will figure it out.” He believes Minnesota’s ability to play multiple styles will make the team entertaining to watch.
The ultimate aim for Lewis and the Timberwolves is a championship by 2027. “We want to make the playoffs and reach the conference finals. Everybody wants a title, and that’s the goal,” he said.