“I was not aware of the video a lot of people are talking about,” Saunders, who is also president of basketball operations and part owner, said via ESPN.com before the team’s home matchup with the Cavaliers on Saturday. “Didn’t know about it, didn’t approve of it. I think as an organization we should be above that.
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“Would San Antonio do that? No. They wouldn’t do that… Our players didn’t like it. They have to play against (Love), too. They didn’t like it. It just doesn’t send the right message… So, was it funny? Maybe people thought it was funny.
“For me it wasn’t great having to deal for three or four hours the last two days having people call me and talk about it as I’m trying to prepare for games. Maybe you think it’s OK. That’s up to you. But I don’t look at it that way — as someone who is running an organization and has to go out and has to recruit players and has to do those things to get those players.
“(Love) might have thought it was funny. But I know, deep down in his heart, no one would like that. It’s human nature.”
Love, who played six seasons with the Timberwolves, scored 14 points and pulled down 17 rebounds for the Cavaliers in a 106-90 win, and said he was pleased with his reception in Minnesota.
“Truth be told, I thought it was a pretty good reception, especially from people, familiar faces,” Love said after the game. “It was nice to see, shake hands, give a lot of hugs to different people and smile, wave at (them). (Owner) Glen and Becky Taylor came over to me and said some really nice stuff. Different teammates from the past, different guys over on the other bench. Flip, as well, I gave him some love in the second half.”
Miller, the surprising subject of the return video, played just one season in Minnesota (2008-09). Now a member of the Cavs with Love, Miller was also unimpressed with the video.
“It is what it is,” Miller said. “I’ll never (have an) answer for anything that happens between (the) marketing (side). Their job is to market and sell.”
Despite the obvious sour grapes between the Timberwolves and Love, the team did honor Love with a video board presentation after the first quarter.
“We have to acknowledge that Kevin, when he was here, he was a great player for us,” Saunders said before the game. “He was an All-Star. He won an Olympic gold medal, did a lot of positive things. And, last year, at this time, everyone was patting themselves on the back for getting him selected into the All-Star Game for us.
“To not acknowledge that, to go the other way, I would say would be hypocritical. So I have addressed some of the people, told them of my displeasure (about the spoof video). And that, as an organization, that’s not the direction we want to go.”