ADAM Silver has described the Minnesota Timberwolves' $25 million HQ as the gold standard – and it is easy to see why. The Courts at Mayo Clinic Square in downtown Minneapolis is one of the finest training facilities across the NBA and WNBA . Opened in June 2015, the privately-funded facility is the home to the both the Timberwolves and Lynx basketball and business operations.
The 107,000-square-foot building also houses the Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine Center, a treatment and rehabilitation space for athletic injuries. Silver, the NBA commissioner, was blown away when he first visited the property. “Frankly, I’ve never seen anything like this," he said .
"This is truly the gold standard.” There are two basketball courts, with the Timberwolves and Lynx each having a primary court. Meanwhile, the Lynx are one of the few WNBA teams to have their own dedicated practice space, which includes their own locker room and training area.
The facility includes administrative spaces for 150–plus employees. There are also media centers, locker rooms, weight rooms, film rooms, therapy tubs and saunas. In addition, there is a 7,000-square-foot fan experience store.
The building also includes a indoor artificial turf area with multi-function cages for pitching, batting, and golf. The location of Mayo Clinic Square also makes it unique. It is situated right across the street from Target Center, the teams’ home arena.
Silver believes the facility is an example of how teams should op.