Wizards make history with Wes Unseld Jr. hiring originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington

The Wizards officially named their 25th head coach in franchise history on Saturday, and the hiring came with a bit of historical significance.

As Wes Unseld Jr. gets set to take on his first head coaching opportunity, it comes with the team his dad spent over two decades with as a player, head coach and general manager.

Washington is now the second team in NBA history to have a father/son duo at the head coaching position along with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Flip Saunders coached the Timberwolves from 1995-2005 and then again from 2014-15. Flip passed away in October of 2015, and then four years later, his son Ryan became interim head coach for the franchise. He did enough to earn the full-time role until he was fired in 2021.

This isn’t Unseld Jr.’s first stop with the Wizards either. He broke into the NBA as an assistant coach with Washington back in 2005 and served under three different coaches until 2011, including Eddie Jordan and, as it turns out, Flip Saunders.