Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards has never been afraid to speak his mind, and on Wednesday, he shared his thoughts on the Los Angeles Lakers being favored in the team’s first-round series, which gets underway on Saturday night.
“I just love it. It’s dope,” Edwards said. “I love the fact that everybody wants the Lakers to win. That’s how it’s supposed to be. They don’t want the Timberwolves to win. I get it.”
The Timberwolves struggled at times this season due to a number of big offseason moves and injuries, but are healthy and playing their best basketball heading into the playoffs. They won eight of their last nine games to clinch the No. 6 seed and avoid the Play-In Tournament.
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Unfortunately for the Wolves, they drew the Lakers in the first round. Thanks to one of the most shocking trades in NBA history, the Lakers now boast Luka Doncic and LeBron James, two of the best postseason performers the league has ever seen. Many also view them as a bad matchup for this Wolves team due to their ability to play small and attack Rudy Gobert.
The Wolves are a very good team with a legitimate superstar of their own in Edwards, and it wouldn’t be some major upset if they won the series. However, most prognosticators expect the Lakers, who have home-court advantage as the No. 3 seed, to advance. The Lakers are -225 favorites, per Caesars Sportsbook, and only one of our seven experts here at CBS Sports picked the Wolves.
Edwards will be fueled by the doubt. He’ll also be fueled by the chance to go up against James in the playoffs for the first time in his career.
“It means a lot to matchup against him, man,” Edwards said. “Probably goes down as the greatest player to ever play basketball. Trying to get putting him out of the playoffs under my belt is going to be a tough one, but it’s going to be a fun road.”
We’ve seen Edwards put the Wolves on his back plenty of times, including throughout their 2024 postseason run to the Western Conference finals, which included a major upset over the then-defending champion Denver Nuggets in the second round.
Can Edwards and the Wolves prove everyone wrong again?
