{"id":78121,"date":"2024-05-20T11:14:10","date_gmt":"2024-05-20T15:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=78121"},"modified":"2024-05-20T11:14:10","modified_gmt":"2024-05-20T15:14:10","slug":"the-real-reason-why-anthony-edwards-can-become-a-champion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/05\/20\/the-real-reason-why-anthony-edwards-can-become-a-champion\/","title":{"rendered":"The Real Reason Why Anthony Edwards Can Become a Champion"},"content":{"rendered":"

43 games into the regular season, Anthony Edwards<\/a> and the <\/span>Minnesota Timberwolves<\/span><\/a> were the first seed in the Western Conference at 30-13. <\/span>With the amount of talent on the roster, it was not surprising to see Minnesota dominate. But given their youth, it\u2019s a sudden reminder of the franchise\u2019s notorious struggles in the recent past.<\/span><\/p>\n

Anthony Edwards Shining Leadership at 22<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Outside of <\/span>Mike Conley<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Rudy Gobert<\/span><\/a> \u2014 who have been on top-seeded teams in the past \u2014 winning at this rate is entirely new for the rest of the roster. For Minnesota\u2019s best player <\/span>Anthony Edwards<\/span>, his first three NBA seasons were void of a high number in the win column. Suddenly, his task on hand \u2014 at age 22 \u2014 is to step up as the leader with his minimal experience. Something he\u2019s handled masterfully thus far.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was tough, man because I couldn\u2019t find myself, my rhythm tonight,\u201d Edwards said following Minnesota\u2019s Game 7 win. \u201cI just had to trust my teammates. They kept track of me, so I just had to make the right play the rest of the game. I did that and my teammates made shots. Big shout out to those guys.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Throughout the postseason, Edwards has made a conscious effort to shine the light on his teammates, particularly his wing-mate <\/span>Jaden McDaniels<\/span><\/a>. When asked which player deserved the game ball after last night\u2019s win, Edwards replied, \u201cJaden McDaniels, no question.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Minnesota\u2019s Winning Formula Continues<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Timberwolves have been at the top of the Western Conference standings all season, thanks to a dominating defensive mindset and the combined star power of Karl Anthony-Towns<\/a>, Gobert, and <\/span>Edwards<\/span>. They also have the distinction, with their ability to use a huge lineup, of being one of the few teams that has been a thorn in the side of the defending champion <\/span>Denver Nuggets<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Before 2024, the last time the franchise had advanced past the first round was in 2004. They were led by an MVP Kevin Garnett<\/a> and eventually made a conference final run. Ironically the Timberwolves won Game 7 yesterday on Garnett’s birthday. Notably in 2004,\u00a0LeBron James<\/a> won Rookie of The Year and Edwards was just 3 years old.\u00a0<\/span>Now, Minnesota sees a staunch leader on and off the court in No. 5. Edwards\u2019 cheery and youthful spirit has been a driving force in keeping the team united through the adversity they faced against Denver.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A Bold Leader<\/h3>\n

Edwards\u2019 brave leadership is in part and parcel of Minnesota\u2019s mental fortitude. Even after losing three straight games in the Semifinals \u2014 two at home \u2014 Minnesota wasn\u2019t rattled. <\/span>Instead, Edwards reportedly told an arena worker \u201cSee you in Game 7<\/a>\u201d as he exited the facility following a Game 5 loss. After winning Game 6, Edwards credited the return of<\/span>\u00a0Conley<\/span> as one of the biggest reasons his team forced a Game 7 back in Denver.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As he sat there postgame ready to take questions from the media, Edwards laughed off his off-shooting night in good spirits. It prompted Towns to chime in and enjoy some laughter with Edwards. Despite the two stars having off nights from the 3-point line, Edwards\u2019 leadership has Minnesota entering the next round feeling good about their chances. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

43 games into the regular season, Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves were the first seed in the Western Conference at 30-13. With the amount of talent on the roster, it was not surprising to see Minnesota dominate. But given their youth, it\u2019s a sudden reminder of the franchise\u2019s notorious struggles in the recent past. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5146,"featured_media":78136,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,1608,21],"tags":[49186,2109,2559,72],"class_list":["post-78121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-basketball","category-timberwolves","tag-2024-nba-playoffs","tag-anthony-edwards","tag-jaden-mcdaniels","tag-nikola-jokic"],"modified_by":"Eamon Cassels, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78121"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78121\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}