Joan Beringer's postgame quote should get Timberwolves fans hyped

For much of the season, many Minnesota Timberwolves fans have been clamoring to see more of Joan Beringer. The 17th overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft finally began receiving meaningful minutes a couple of weeks back, although of late, Beringer has mostly received minimal playing time.

On Wednesday, Chris Finch gave him 16 minutes of playing time in Minnesota’s victory over the Dallas Mavericks. His postgame quote following the win should hype up the team’s fanbase.

After the game, Beringer had a simple yet powerful quote about his defensive mindset: "I want to block everything."

Some may see it as brash. This is a 19-year-old kid who is the third-youngest player in the league this season, though. Having belief in yourself at that young an age is part of the reason that Beringerhasn’t really shown any stage fright playing when the game is still in question after not seeing that kind of playing time for months.

Beringer brings some much needed extra energy to the Wolves and this quote is the perfect example of that. In general it's hard not be excited about Beringer's upside.

Limitless defensive potential for the 19-year-old

It was a rather impactful 16 minutes that Beringer played on Wednesday night. His final box score numbers include nine points (3-4 from the field, 3-4 from the foul line), four rebounds, an assist, and a block. The team was a +11 with the Frenchman on the court in what was a 13-point win.

The block that Beringer had was one of the more memorable plays of the outing. Mavericks forward Caleb Martin drove to the hole for a layup, but his attempt was swatted away by the 6-foot-11 center just before it hit the glass.

Now, as time goes on, Beringer will likely learn that every shot can’t be blocked. Even the best shot blockers in NBA history knew to pick and choose their spots so they don’t pick up silly fouls or find themselves out of position.

Still, with Beringer’s athleticism and defensive chops, there’s no reason he can’t develop into one of the game’s best at rejecting shot attempts. His block on Martin marked his 10th block of the year in 158 minutes played. That gives him a solid 2.3 per 36 minutes, albeit in a small sample size (the 5.7 fouls per 36 minutes is something Beringer needs to improve on).

As exciting as Beringer’s potential is for future seasons, it has been great to see the neophyte already helping the team out at his very young age.