This offseason, Anthony Edwards is furthering his transition into a leadership role. That was hard when he first entered the league as a 19-year-old, but now he’s a 25-year-old six-year veteran and is tied for the longest-tenured member of his team, along with Jaden McDaniels.
With the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Media Day taking place on Monday, Edwards provided a notable quote, saying he doesn’t have many individual goals, further demonstrating his leap into leadership. “I just want to win, whatever that looks like, whatever that takes," Edwards said.
Simple, but to the point. That is exactly what Wolves fans should want Edwards to say, coming into arguably their most anticipated season in team history.
Anthony Edwards' focus on winning proves his priorities are straight
Of course, fans love to see singular talents on their favorite team who are among the best in their sport. Edwards certainly qualifies as one of those top talents. The Timberwolves had a player like that before Edwards: Kevin Garnett, still seen as the best player in franchise history.
What the fan base ultimately wants, though, is for the Timberwolves to make their first-ever NBA Finals appearance and win their first championship. The team is in its most successful era, but its two recent Western Conference finals appearances in 2024 and 2025 resulted in Minnesota being eliminated in five games.
For me and many other basketball fans, it was disappointing to hear notable players, including Kevin Durant and Tracy McGrady, say a regular-season MVP award is more meaningful than a title. Sure, the former means a lot, but fans most want to see their team win a championship.
At the end of the day, you play to win as a team, not to win individual accolades. Great leaders need to prioritize winning as a team, and Ant is doing exactly that.
Edwards could eventually win an MVP award, as he may just be entering the prime of his career. He has finished seventh in the voting twice. To become forever immortalized in Minneapolis, winning a championship is the way to do so.
An offseason of more leadership from Ant-Man
Entering his seventh year in the league, Edwards is beginning to take his leadership role seriously. He helped foot the bill for the team’s excursion to France to work out with Rudy Gobert. He befriended LaMelo Ball from the get-go after Minnesota acquired him from the Charlotte Hornets.
Edwards was very involved in the recruiting process to help the team add Jonathan Kuminga, who will be their new starting power forward.
This year’s media day is different from last year’s, when Edwards stated his goal was to win MVP (he also said he wanted to win a championship, to be fair). Team success can help him achieve the top individual honor at some point.
Winning a championship as the team’s leader takes him to a whole different stratosphere. Just ask Jalen Brunson.
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