Anthony Edwards relishing underdog role ahead of Wolves-Lakers series

No one seems to be picking the Minnesota Timberwolves to upset the Los Angeles Lakers in their upcoming first-round playoff series, which begins Saturday night in LA.

That's just fine with Anthony Edwards.

"I just love it," Ant said on Wednesday. "It's dope. 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."

Anthony Edwards on if he likes the national media picking the Lakers to win

Yea(smiling) I just love it, it’s dope. 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” pic.twitter.com/PUOHWWrs5a
— Andrew Dukowitz (@adukeMN) April 16, 2025

On paper, there are plenty of reasons to be confident in the Wolves heading into this series, especially with the way they played to close out the regular season. But as a smaller-market team going up against the iconic Lakers brand and big-name superstars LeBron James and Luka Doncic, it should come as no surprise that Minnesota is the underdog in this matchup.

It should also come as no surprise that Edwards is excited about the challenge of playing on this stage against guys like James and Doncic — and cherishes the opportunity to prove people wrong.

“It means a lot, to match up against (LeBron)," Edwards said of facing his USA teammate at last summer's Paris Olympics. "Probably goes down as the greatest player to ever play basketball. Trying to put him out the playoffs under my belt is gonna be a tough one, but it's gonna be a fun road."

An obvious key to the series for the Wolves will be the play of Edwards, who has had a fantastic fifth NBA season. He averaged a career-high 27.6 points per game this season, leading the league with 320 made three-pointers while hitting them at a nearly 40 percent clip. One of the NBA's most exciting players and personalities also added a few more dunks to his poster collection. At just 23 years old, Edwards has the Wolves in the postseason for the fourth consecutive year — and he's proven to be a big-time playoff performer over the past three seasons.

As teams have done all year, the Lakers will undoubtedly throw plenty of defensive attention at Edwards. That means double teams, blitzing him on ball screens, and trying to keep him from beating them with his prolific scoring. It also means Edwards will have to make the right play and set up his teammates when those situations arise.

"Just being willing to get off the ball to my teammates," Edwards said. "I told Mike (Conley), you gotta be willing to shoot five straight catch-and-shoot threes. Don’t turn nothing down. Donte, Nickeil, Naz, Jaden gotta be willing to shoot those shots and not turn anything down. And I gotta be willing to make those passes every time to open the defense up for me to be able to get downhill."

Edwards said a lot of the right things during his Wednesday press conference. He also knows the Lakers may try to exploit one of his other occasional weaknesses: off-ball defense.

"I gotta be locked in off the ball," he said. "Cause I know they may try to attack me when I'm not on the ball, so I gotta be locked in on cutters and stuff. On the ball, I'm not really worried, I play pretty good defense. I just gotta be willing to compete."

Ant also knows he has to keep his emotions in check. He was called for a league-high 19 technical fouls this season, although two of them were rescinded. He earned a one-game suspension for his 16th upheld tech, then avoided another suspension in Minnesota's regular season finale when the league retracted his tech last weekend. Fortunately, the count resets in the playoffs.

"Yeah, I won't get no techs," Edwards said, drawing some laughs. "I won't say anything. I'll be super quiet. A hundred percent."

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