Anthony Edwards rips Wolves as ‘frontrunners’ after loss

In his four-plus NBA seasons, Anthony Edwards has never been afraid to speak his mind.

But the Minnesota Timberwolves star was particularly candid in a profanity-laced explanation of his team’s recent struggles following a 115-104 loss to the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night.

“Our identity right now is, I think we’re soft as hell as a team, internally,” Edwards said. “Not to the other team, but internally we’re soft. We can’t talk to each other. Just a bunch of little kids. Like we’re playing with a bunch of little kids. Everyone, the whole team. We just can’t talk to each other And we have to figure it out because we can’t go down this road.”

Minnesota reached the Western Conference finals in 2024. But the Timberwolves have lost four straight and seven of nine after starting 6-3 this season. A lineup that saw a significant shakeup late in the offseason with the trade of Karl-Anthony Towns still looks disjointed at times.

That includes a 12-point fourth-quarter lead against Sacramento a day after losing 117-111 in overtime to Houston at home.

“We definitely look like front runners tonight,” Edwards said Wednesday. “We were down, nobody wanted to say anything. We got up and everybody (was) cheering and (hyping). We come back down and nobody says anything. That’s the definition of a frontrunner. We as a team, including myself, we were all frontrunners tonight.”

Edwards added: “Everybody right now is on different agendas. I think that’s one of the main culprits in why we’re losing.”

Edwards, who led the Timberwolves with 29 points on 9-of-24 shooting, didn’t admonish his teammates until after the game. More than once he could be seen demonstratively communicating in huddles with Julius Randle, Rudy Gobert and others.

Randle and guard Donte DiVincenzo were the best in the October trade that sent Towns to the New York Knicks three weeks before the start of the season. Both have experienced up-and-down starts to their Twin Cities tenures.

Towns, meanwhile, has settled down with the Knicks.

Edwards said this isn’t just about the new guys.

“I’m talking about the whole team,” Edwards said. “However many of us there are, all 15 of us go into our own shells and we just grow away from each other. It’s obvious. We can see it. I can see it, the team can see it, the coaches can see it .”

So can the fans, who voiced their collective displeasure more than once on Wednesday night.

“The fans are booing us,” said Edwards, whose team is 8-10 heading into Friday’s game against the LA Clippers. “That s— is crazy, man. We’re getting booed on our home field. It’s so f—ing disrespectful, it’s crazy.”