If you compare the Timberwolves of last year to this season’s displays, you can definitely see the difference. It is even hard to see this current squad reaching the Western Conference Finals again, and Anthony Edwards isn’t happy about it, which is why the team leader recently called out his squad’s lack of strength and communication.
The press was all over the place after his pupil’s remarks, and Chris Finch felt the need to intervene, shedding light on these fiery comments which called his own teammates “soft” and “a bunch of kids who can’t talk to each other.”
Instead of reprimanding his star forward, the Minnesota tactician actually defended him. “The same things were said to each other behind closed doors,” Finch told reporters. “Now ideally, you don’t want those things to get out, but he put it out there. It wasn’t like it got out through some locker room leak.”
Anthony Edwards kept it 💯 when I asked him about the teams defense. He said the identity of this team is “We soft as hell” pic.twitter.com/a9P9Mf4nX0
— SneakerReporter (@SneakerReporter) November 28, 2024
The Wolves coach went on to clarify that Ant’s comments came with a desire to push his team to success. “[Edwards] put it out there because he was going to challenge his teammates,” he explained. “And with Anthony, everybody who knows him, certainly his teammates, they know that it comes from a good place.”
“He’s got a great heart, he cheers hard for his teammates’ success, he wants to win, he’s about the right things,” Finch added. “Even when he doesn’t know or have all the answers himself or makes mistakes, he’s held accountable, he’s allowed to be coached, and so he’s built up great credit with his teammates.”
Chris’ handling of this situation is nothing short of genius, as he dismantled a ticking-time bomb and turned it into an example of leadership. Rather than pointing fingers around his locker room, he used the situation to his advantage.
“Anthony’s leadership, his voice, his emergence, his maturity—the conversations that we’ve had, the recognition about what is and what is not right with our team—is the best thing about it. That’s what you want from your young star player,” Finch assured.
Franchise legend Kevin Garnett recently called out Wolves for trading out KAT instead of other stars like Rudy Gobert during the summer
Minnesota have been dealing with the outcome of having traded out one of their best franchise players for two stars who still aren’t shinning as they were expected. We are talking about Karl-Anthony Towns, who this summer landed in New York in exchange for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo.
However, now it seems as if the Wolves are coming out as the losers in the trade, as their general performances seem to have deteriorated since the past campaign. KAT is enjoying an MVP-caliber season so far, and franchise icon Kevin Garnett has spoken his mind about this.
“We just swept that whole Minnesota thing under the rug,” the former MVP and champion said on his show KG Certified. “You’re supposed to trade Rudy Gobert, keep KAT, and go on. You took a step back. You didn’t wanna pay the man? What are we doing?”
Garnett believes that Rudy Gobert should’ve been the player they traded out of Minnesota. Now, even team star Anthony Edwards believes the squad’s general chemistry has worsened and recently addressed this to the press. “Our identity right now is, I think it’s we soft as hell as a team, internally.
