It was a Sunday afternoon, and I was on the phone with NBA Commissioner David Stern at his home shortly after the Wolves had been punished in October 2000 for signing Joe Smith to an illegal contract.

The cost to the Wolves was a $3.5 million fine, the suspension for a year of both owner Glen Taylor and vice president Kevin McHale and the loss of five No. 1 draft choices.

Stern had just gone through tough negotiations for what he thought was a very favorable collective bargaining agreement and he was livid about the Wolves' actions. He couldn't believe what Taylor and his team had done. You couldn't repeat a lot of his words.

At that point, I was sure Stern was going to force Taylor to sell the team.

Well, that was three years ago. Tuesday, Stern made his first visit here since the Smith debacle. He had returned two of the five draft choices and he and Taylor are back on good terms. But he doesn't plan to return any more picks.

He spent the entire day talking to the media, to corporate sponsors and to members of the staff. He described the Timberwolves operation as one of the best in the NBA.