The Minnesota Timberwolves have truly come a long way. It was not long ago that the Wolves were a perennial Western Conference bottom feeder with no real path to becoming a contender anytime soon. Then, along came Anthony Edwards.
Fast forward a few years, and Minnesota is consistently being viewed as one of the top threats to take home an NBA championship both next season and in the future. Long-time Timberwolves fans still probably feel like they are waiting to wake up from some sort of fantastic dream.
But Minnesota is here to stay, and with plenty of young talent waiting in the wings behind their veterans, there is currently no end in sight to their run. Many would say that the Wolves reached this level as Anthony Edwards matured and became the team's leader, and certainly that is at least partly true.
However, there is another crucial piece to the Timberwolves' story from the last half decade, and that is Patrick Beverley. But do not take it from me, instead listen to Taurean Prince. Recently appearing on Tidal League's Run Your Race Podcast hosted by Theo Pinson, Prince explained in detail how Pat Bev was also crucial to building this era of Timberwolves basketball.
Prince: Beverley brought winning characteristics to Minnesota
In this episode with Pinson, Prince reminds everyone that he came to Minnesota along with Patrick Beverley in 2021. Many outsiders have already felt Beverley gave the Timberwolves a boost with his mentality, and Prince removes any doubt left in fans' minds.
"People would never give him his credit, but that was somebody who everybody looked to," Taurean said. "The seriousness and the professionalism you need to come with to be at a certain level and have those winning characteristics, he definitely brought that to Minnesota."
Having a veteran like Pat Bev come alongside Anthony Edwards and show him these important traits from a leader has proven to be even more valuable than any of us could have envisioned three years ago. Pinson agreed with Prince's assessment. "You could tell he challenged them," said Theo. "Granted, you're better than me. But I'm gonna make sure you know you need to be at a certain level for us to be successful."
Taurean added that it has been good to see his former team thrive off what Beverley brought to the table in Minnesota, and that he gives a lot of credit to Pat for setting the tone for the group. It feels like if you asked any member of the 2021-22 Timberwolves team their thoughts on this matter, we would get a similar answer to Prince's from all of them.