Anthony Edwards is headed into the new NBA season with a fresh offseason behind him, but the message coming from one former player is that the Timberwolves guard should carry a little extra edge with him too.
Kendrick Perkins said on the Road Trippin’ podcast that Edwards ought to lean into what others around the league have already accomplished - especially former teammate Karl-Anthony Towns, now with the New York Knicks.
Perkins said: “I believe that Ant Man has a little jealousy and envy in him, and I want him to have it. I want him to see that SGA won the NBA Championship two years ago. I want him to be upset and have envy that Jalen Brunson won the NBA Championship.
“Most importantly, I want him to be ____ed off that a guy he was sharing the floor with in Karl-Anthony Towns left and won the NBA Championship last year. This is on Anthony Edwards’ mind.”
He also added of Edwards’ offseason: “He’s in great shape, he’s got great energy.”
The Timberwolves enter this season trying to move past another postseason disappointment. They fell to the San Antonio Spurs in last season’s playoffs, ending a three-year run in which they had made the Western Conference Finals.
Edwards had been central to Minnesota’s rise, but he was not at full strength after suffering an injury against the Nuggets. That left him less than 100 percent when the Spurs series arrived.
With time to heal, Edwards is being pushed to turn the sting of those near-misses into fuel. He is one of the league’s elite young players, yet still does not have a championship on his résumé, while several of his peers have already reached that summit.
Two years ago this month, Minnesota made the stunning decision to trade Towns to the Knicks, sending Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo the other way. At the time, it broke up a team that had reached the conference finals months earlier.
Minnesota still managed to match that result in 2025, even with the reshaped roster. But last season belonged to New York, which went on to win the NBA title. Randle is now gone in free agency, and DiVincenzo is out with an injury.
The Timberwolves now have a new look with LaMelo Ball in the mix, but the burden remains on Edwards to lead them somewhere higher.
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