This might be a venting session, but as a Minnesota Timberwolves fan, it’s starting to become a part of my life.

I recall one evening earlier this year when the NBA season began and there was a one-on-one interview between Cheryl Miller of TNT and Kevin Garnett. In the interview, Garnett basically said all the problems with the team have stemmed from the top of the Timberwolves’ organization.

Garnett was able to put the focus more on the people with the power, the fans, over the coaches and players who come and go.

I was raised by a father who has a collection of numerous taped Larry Bird games in his days with the Celtics. I grew up watching the Celtics as if they were the hometown team and I cheered for Bird and the Celtics no matter what, even when the Timberwolves became part of the NBA.

Another person who was a part of the Larry Bird era was Minnesota’s own Kevin McHale, a teammate of Bird’s through much of the 1980s and early 90s. McHale, since his retirement in 1993, is the Vice President of Basketball Operations for the Timberwolves.

Many times in professional sports we find ourselves blaming the coach or players for a team underachieving or just flat out not playing well.

The owner has become a position of power when it comes to money, but not so much in the personnel decisions.

There is always the guy who calls the shots and is supposed to be an expert. A reoccurring trend exists among former players. Many of them accept General Manager roles. After all, they’ve played the game, know people in the game and they should be able to help the organization.

I liked McHale. The guy drafted a tall, skinny high school kid back in 1995 on pure belief that the potential he possessed was too much to pass up. He has become the face of a franchise, an icon to the state of Minnesota and now he looks lost because of the loss direction of his team.

A couple of years ago the Timberwolves were competing with the NBA’s best teams night in and night out in hopes of getting past the first round of the playoffs.

Now, two years later, numerous teammates are gone, the coaching staff has completely changed and McHale still keeps his job as the coach he fired, Flip Saunders, enjoys the league’s best record with the Detroit Pistons.

McHale’s illegal Joe Smith contract, countless draft picks that never ended up being anything and mindless trades have left the franchise completely on Garnett’s back.

Year after year Garnett plays amazing.

He goes out every night, no matter who he is playing against, and gives it his all. It’s a shame the team is six games below .500 yet has this great player on the roster.

My plea is simple. Kevin McHale should step down from his job with the Timberwolves and let someone else take it over.

His one and only bright spot in his time with the franchise is Garnett.

With all of the other questionable moves he has made, and I could name 10 off the top of my head, it’s time to go. Right now the team is in a tough spot searching for its identity.

I’ll never say trade Garnett, but I want the guy to get what he deserves – a championship. I don’t want him to join the list of great players who have never won the top honors.

McHale’s time has come and gone.

Andy Weise is a junior print journalism major and a sports editor of The Spectator.