Star Tribune September 18th 1987

Mark Thompson submitted three entries in the Minnesota Timberwolves' logo contest, thinking his chances of winning were pretty good. That thinking changed when he heard that 2,600 entries had been received by the future NBA franchise.

Thompson, however, then received a phone call from Timberwolves president Bob Stein.

"He said I was one of the half-dozen who still were in the running," Thompson said. "I waited two weeks before I got another call Monday and he said I won. That was the good news. The bad news was that they told me I couldn't tell anybody."

Thompson, who won $2,500, was all smiles Thursday as the Timberwolves unveiled their official logo at a press conference. His winning design, using the previously selected team colors, is a stylized wolf head resting within royal blue and kelly green rings. It has a metallic silver background in the shape of a basketball.

"We felt it was unique because you can see the wolf and the basketball," Stein said. "It's clearly designed to where we can use it on small things like T-shirts or golf shirts or the walls of a building or a billboard."

Thompson, 33, a native of Austin, Minn., now lives in Clear Lake, Iowa, where he owns a graphic design business. He said he spent about 45 hours researching and drawing his entries.

The winning entry features a blue-and-white wolf with green eyes, although Thompson said he couldn't remember if his original design had green or blue eyes.

"My memory is about as long as my nose," he said. "I just wanted something with a silver background that looked like a moon or basketball. The first wolf was silver and blue, but it looked flat. Now it pops right out."

Stein said he and team owners Marv Wolfenson and Harvey Ratner picked Thompson's entry after consulting other pro franchises, the NBA's marketing group, the CBS and TBS television networks and the MacGregor sporting goods company, which will make the Timberwolves' uniforms.

The Timberwolves' first use of the logo was on a check for $20,000, a contribution to the Twin Cities' United Way Foundation.