Minnesota Timberwolves

Anthony Edwards' decision to flip off the crowd at the Golden 1 Center during the Minnesota Timberwolves' 130-126 overtime win against the Sacramento Kings turned out to be a costly gesture.

NBA executive vice president Joe Dumars announced on Sunday that Edwards has been fined $35,000 for making an obscene gesture on the playing court.

The incident occurred late in the first quarter when Edwards looked into the crowd and flipped them off. It's unclear if there was anything that prompted the reaction, or if he made the gesture in the heat of the moment.

Edwards had a nice rebound performance against the Kings after a rough three-game stretch. He finished with 36 points on 14-of-27 shooting in 42 minutes, including a poster dunk on Domantas Sabonis.

Edwards' outing helped the Timberwolves stave off a 60-point performance from De'Aaron Fox. It's the highest single-game point total for any player this season, surpassing the 59 points from Giannis Antetokounmpo on Nov. 13.

The T-Wolves were able to hold on for the win, despite blowing a 16-point lead in the fourth quarter. Edwards scored seven of the team's 15 points in the overtime period to help them snap their three-game losing streak.

Edwards is having the best season of his career to start the 2024-25 campaign. He's averaging 28.4 points per game on 42.4 percent three-point shooting in 13 starts.

The Timberwolves got back over the .500 mark with their win over the Kings, improving to 7-6. They will go for a second straight victory on Sunday against the Phoenix Suns at the Target Center.

Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards placed the blame on himself and his teammates after the Wolves lost 106-98 to the Portland Trail Blazers.

It was the Wolves' third straight defeat.

"We got the answers. The coaches give us … the answers," Edwards told reporters in the locker room. "We just not doing it as a team, one through 15. They give us the answers every night. We come in here at 35 [minutes] on the night, and they tell us what we need to do to win the game, and somehow we don't do it every night. We got to get back to it. We got to mature, man."

Julius Randle and Rudy Gobert struck a similar tone with their postgame assessments:

Minnesota shot 39.4 percent from the floor as a team and went 7-of-39 on three-pointers. The Wolves were also out-rebounded 47-41 and allowed 52 points in the paint to a rebuilding Blazers squad. Shaedon Sharpe's 33 points for Portland were a career high.

Twelve games is too early for a team to start panicking, but it's understandable why fans might be concerned with how the Timberwolves are performing.

Minnesota has slipped from first to ninth in defensive rating. The team is 25th in rebounding average despite having Randle and Gobert to anchor the frontcourt. Donte DiVincenzo is shooting just 30.6 percent from deep.

One look at the Western Conference standings points to how tight the playoff race is likely to be. The Dallas Mavericks are in 12th but only 4.5 games back of the first-place Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Timberwolves can't afford to throw away games—let alone two straight—against lesser opponents such as Portland. The comments from Edwards, Randle and Gobert speak to the kind of urgency the players need to display in order to halt their current slide.

Many people likely didn't expect the New York Knicks to trade Donte DiVincenzo after he was such a key piece of their run to the second round of the playoffs last season, but things can quickly change in the NBA.

Especially if a player such as Karl-Anthony Towns becomes available.

New York and the Minnesota Timberwolves completed a three-team trade with the Charlotte Hornets shortly ahead of the 2024-25 campaign that sent DiVincenzo and Julius Randle to Minnesota and Towns to New York.

DiVincenzo opened up about the move and his opportunity to team up with Anthony Edwards during a Wednesday appearance on The Young Man and the Three podcast (4:30 mark).

"You think about all the trade situations, I've been traded before so, like, I couldn't ask for a better trade situation to go to," he said. "You're going to a team that's a contender, you're going to a team that you were looking at in free agency, and you're going to a team that has a stud that's young.

"Just going bonkers and like the energy that he gives to the organization, you see it from the outside, but when you're here, he makes coming to work everyday just so enjoyable and that's something that is very, very, very fun."

The trade was under the spotlight during a preseason matchup between the Knicks and Timberwolves when DiVincenzo chirped at the New York bench and had to be separated from Knicks assistant coach Rick Brunson after the game.

The two teams face each other for the first time in the regular season on Dec. 19, and DiVincenzo will have a return trip to New York on Jan. 17.

He and the rest of the Timberwolves surely hope they are playing with more consistency by the time those games roll around, as they are just 6-5 in the early going and coming off two straight losses to the Miami Heat and Portland Trail Blazers. Considering they went to the Western Conference Finals with Edwards leading the way just last season, they likely envisioned a better start in 2024-25.

Fortunately for Minnesota, there is still plenty of time to turn things around with the 23-year-old Edwards spearheading the charge.

More consistent play from DiVincenzo would help as well, as he averaged 15.5 points per game behind 44.3 percent shooting from the field and 40.1 percent shooting from deep last season compared to 10.1 points per game behind 36.6 percent shooting from the field and 32.9 percent shooting from deep this season.

But that will likely come with more experience in Minnesota's system ahead of a potential playoff run.

The Minnesota Timberwolves have unveiled their City Edition jerseys for the 2024-25 season.

The Timberwolves announced the new uniforms in a video posted on X that features star shooting guard Anthony Edwards as well as the rest of the team's rotation.

The jerseys feature white and blue colors in a wintry ice pattern, paying homage to Minnesota's lakes.

The City Edition uniforms will be worn 23 times by the Timberwolves this season, starting with a clash against the Phoenix Suns on Sunday.

The jerseys bear a striking resemblance to the team's City Edition uniforms that were used last season. The organization explained that "this year's uniform is the culmination of a two-year story focused on the integral role lakes and 'lake life' play in Minnesota" as part of the announcement.

The 2024-25 jerseys feature the Timberwolves' primary icon logo on the shorts, which is encased in black and white while the ice pattern is within. The waistband also includes an outline of the state of Minnesota.

"When it comes to the cold of winter, Minnesotans don't just survive, we thrive," Timberwolves chief marketing officer Mike Grahl said, per the announcement. "We're excited to complete Nike and NBA's two-year City Edition story arc with a celebration of lake life in Minnesota—ice cold style."

The Timberwolves are coming off an immensely successful 2023-24 campaign, making their first trip to the Western Conference Finals since 2004.

Minnesota has started the 2024-25 season with a 6-4 record while owning the sixth-best net rating in the association, via NBA.com.

As Edwards looks to lead the Timberwolves back to the playoffs, the team will suit up in the City Edition uniforms against Phoenix. Tip-off for Sunday's contest is at 3:30 p.m. ET.

Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards has made a point of taking more threes so far this season, something he will continue to do regardless of what anyone might say about it.

Speaking to reporters after Friday's 119-116 win over the Denver Nuggets, Edwards' message about his new style of play was "f--k 'em" when asked what he would say to anyone who thinks he is taking too many shots from behind the arc.

One of the few criticisms of Edwards' game through the first four seasons of his career was that he wasn't a great three-point shooter. He made 35.3 percent of his attempts behind the arc during that span.

Another aspect of that was Edwards' three-point volume was trending downward. He averaged 8.4 attempts per game in 2021-22, then 7.3 per game in 2022-23 and 6.7 per game last season.

The Timberwolves completely altered the way they play late in the offseason by trading Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks. They did get three-point specialist Donte DiVincenzo back in the deal, but the addition of Julius Randle—who is historically a low-volume three-point shooter—put more bodies inside the arc with Rudy Gobert stationed in the paint.

Rather than try to stay in the midrange, where he was having tremendous success, Edwards has decided to become a three-point savant. He's attempting 22.6 shots per game, with 13.4 of them coming from behind the arc.

The strategy is paying off handsomely for Edwards and the T-Wolves. He has a 43.3 percent success rate and is on a historic pace through five games.

Edwards' 13.4 three-point attempts per game leads the NBA, exactly one more on average than Charlotte Hornets point guard LaMelo Ball (12.4). His 43.3 percent success rate is the best in the league among all players averaging at least 10 attempts.

Given how much of a historic outlier these stats are, it will be interesting to see if Edwards can continue at this pace over a larger sample size.

For now, though, Edwards is doing all he can to keep the Timberwolves playing at a level that keeps them in the ranks of the top teams in the Western Conference.

The Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the Denver Nuggets in a rematch of last season's Western Conference semifinals on Friday night.

Led by Anthony Edwards, the Timberwolves took down the Nuggets by the final score of 119-116 at the Target Center.

Edwards finished with 29 points, four rebounds and four assists in 38 minutes on the floor. He shot 11-23 and hit seven three-pointers, connecting on a go-ahead floater with roughly 25 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

The Timberwolves trailed by 10 points with less than four minutes remaining in the contest, but they were able to quickly erase the deficit and secure the victory.

There wasn't any love lost between the two Western Conference rivals, as Rudy Gobert and Christian Braun were both assessed technical fouls due to an altercation following a dunk by Braun.

Fans were amazed by Edwards' late-game heroics.

Despite the loss, Nikola Jokić still wrapped up an efficient performance. The three-time MVP finished with 26 points and 13 assists to go along with nine rebounds. He shot 8-16 from the field, connecting on two of his three long-range attempts.

Russell Westbrook struggled to find his shot, hitting just one of his eight attempts from the field. He recorded five points, six rebounds and five assists.

The two teams will face off again on Jan. 25

It's no secret Anthony Edwards has plenty of confidence in his athletic ability, even beyond the basketball court.

The Minnesota Timberwolves star recently told Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson that he could hold his own in the NFL and could tackle Baltimore Ravens star running back Derrick Henry.

When asked whether Edwards could tackle him, Henry had a hilarious response.

"Do I think that Anthony Edwards could tackle me? Hell no," he said.

Edwards reacted to the video of Henry calling him out on social media on Wednesday:

Actual NFL defenders have enough trouble bringing down Henry, who stands at 6'2", 247 pounds, so Edwards might be reaching by saying he could tackle him.

Edwards has gone on record claiming he could play other sports besides basketball. He even said earlier this week that he has plans to fulfill his two-sport athlete dream if he accomplishes his NBA goals soon.

"Football players can't go play basketball. No way," Edwards said. "I told my buddies, I said 'if I win a ring in the next three-to-four years, I'm going to play football.'"

Edwards on the football field would be a sight to see, but for now, he'll focus on leading the Timberwolves to another big year after taking them to the Western Conference Finals a year ago.

Rudy Gobert and the Minnesota Timberwolves have agreed to a three-year, $110 million contract extension, according to ESPN's Shams Charania.

Gobert is declining his $46.6 million player option for 2025-26 and is signing a new multi-year extension to keep him in Minnesota through the 2027-28 season, Charania added.

"As negotiations went on, Gobert expressed faith in the Timberwolves' approach to contention and exploring a creative route to receive financial security and allowing the organization to continue adding pieces," Charania wrote.

The news came just prior to the team's season opener against the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night.

Prior to the deal, the Timberwolves entered the 2025-26 season $107.9 million over the salary cap, per Spotrac. ESPN's Bobby Marks provided more insight:

Gobert averaged 14.0 points, 12.9 rebounds and 2.1 blocks through 76 games, all starts, in 2023-24 during his second season with Minnesota.

The veteran center capped off his fourth career DPOY campaign by averaging one block per playoff game, while guarding star opponents like the Denver Nuggets' Nikola Jokić, to help power the Timberwolves to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2004.

After struggling to connect with shooting guard Anthony Edwards during his first campaign with the Timberwolves, Gobert started clicking with Edwards during the latter half of 2023-24.

Their chemistry allowed the Wolves to improve their pick-and-roll and achieve the team's first 50-win regular season in two decades.

The Wolves now have both stars locked in for the near future after Edwards signed a five-year max extension of his own in 2023.

Gobert was previously under contract through 2024-25, with a player option through 2026, after signing one of the biggest contracts in NBA history with the Utah Jazz in 2020.

He left $23 million on the table when signing that five-year, $205 million extension to help the team that drafted him in 2013 build around him, ESPN's Tim MacMahon reported.

The Timberwolves then sent five players and five picks to the Jazz in order to take on that contract in 2022 when trading for Gobert.

That steep price was worth it for Minnesota to settle on a long-term starting center and skilled defender who can help the franchise contend for a title in the near future.

Gobert is set to remain a key part of the Wolves' rotation, which will look different this fall following the trade that sent Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks, with Julius Randle likely to swap in for Towns in the starting lineup.

Towns and Gobert formed a dominant pairing when both on the floor last season. Gobert will now need to focus on establishing similar chemistry with the Wolves' new star big as the team looks to make an even deeper playoff run next spring.

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards is one of the fastest-rising superstars in the NBA, but he won't be satisfied until he's regarded as one of the best players in the league.

An interaction between Edwards and Minnesota Vikings star receiver Justin Jefferson captured by ESPN's Jamal Collier illustrates how Edwards remains motivated to continue his ascent as he enters his fifth year in the NBA.

While discussing plans to play video games against one another, Edwards declared, "I don't play [NBA] 2K, but we can play Madden."

Collier noted that Edwards "takes Madden very seriously," but his reason for preferring the famed football video game over the basketball game goes deeper than that.

"Why you don't play 2K?" Jefferson asked.

Edwards, who currently has an overall rating of 94 in the game, responded, "I ain't playing till I'm a 99."

Edwards' quest for greatness is one that Jefferson respects.

"Straight up," Jefferson laughed as they dapped each other up. "I feel you."

"After this year, maybe," Edwards said.

The 23-year-old was an All-Star selection in each of the last two seasons. He will have more on his shoulders this year after the Timberwolves traded star center Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks, so perhaps he will prove to ratings adjusters that he's worthy of a 99.

Edwards and the Timberwolves will open the 2024-25 season on Tuesday night against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards teased that he'll play football if he wins an NBA title in the next three-or-four years.

Edwards made his remarks during a dual ESPN interview alongside Minnesota Vikings star wide receiver Justin Jefferson.

"You're not going to football," Jefferson stated emphatically. Edwards replied: "I am going to play football."

Chances are Edwards will not, in fact, play NFL football. But if it does happen, Edwards would become the first athlete to ever play in the NBA and NFL. Edwards didn't play high school or college football. He did once star on the Pop Warner fields for the Atlanta Vikings.

At 6'4" and 225 pounds, Edwards could make for a great wide receiver in theory. But he has enough on his plate right now trying to lead Minnesota to its first-ever NBA title.

This isn't the first time Edwards has brought up the topic of playing in the NFL. He told comedian Marco Summers on "Open Thoughts" that he could be the first person to play in the NFL and NBA.

"I think I might be the first one," Edwards said. He then added: "I'm gonna try... First I gotta handle my business in the NBA ... Minnesota organization, we want to win a championship. After that, we'll figure that out."

Thirteen athletes have played in both MLB and the NBA, including Danny Ainge, Dave DeBusschere and Chuck Connors. There's also been NFL and MLB stars, most notably Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders.

In theory, Edwards leaving the NBA and actually landing an NFL gig would be a remarkable feat, especially for someone who hasn't played organized football in so long. He is an incredible athlete, though, who routinely flies above defenders for Earth-shattering dunks. Edwards certainly could have found himself as an NFL athlete had he not focused on basketball.

For now, though, Edwards is a member of the Timberwolves, who should be in the NBA title conversation after a Western Conference Finals appearance last year. Their regular season starts Tuesday at the Los Angeles Lakers.