Musselman began his CBA career in 1988 as the general manager of the Rapid City Thrillers, a franchise his father Bill had coached to three consecutive CBA titles during the 1980s. His first week on the job, he hired Flip Saunders as the team's head coach. Saunders, who was recruited by Bill Musselman when Bill was the head coach at the University of Minnesota during the early 1970s, would go on to be one of the winningest coaches in CBA history before moving to the NBA as coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves.