Anthony Edwards is not looking at the NBA’s run of eight champions in eight seasons as a reason to wait his turn. Minnesota’s 25-year-old centerpiece sees it as a challenge, and he is talking like a player who believes the Timberwolves belong in the last round of the season.
“I don’t really have hope. I just got will,” Edwards said. “I’m just all will. I don’t think he’s better than me. I don’t think that they can beat me and my team. Whoever we line up against, you’re not going to tell me their team is going to beat our team. I don’t hope. I don’t wish for anything. It’s will and determination, and we’re going to show it every night.”
Minnesota has stayed in the playoff picture
The Wolves have spent the past three postseasons building a résumé that puts them among the clubs pressing for the next breakthrough. Their 24 playoff victories over that span rank third in the league, behind New York and Oklahoma City, which each have 33.
- Minnesota reached the Western Conference finals in 2023.
- The Wolves returned to the West finals in 2024.
- Last season ended in the Western Conference semifinals, another deep run but not the June finish Edwards wants.
Chris Finch views those trips as part of the work required before a team can break through. The coach said the Wolves must keep taking a seat among the league’s serious contenders rather than settling for being a promising group.
“How many times do you sit at the big table versus the kids table?” Finch said. “You’ve got to keep sitting at the big table, and eventually you can punch through. This parity means that if you’re at the table, you have a chance. I feel like we’re that kind of team and organization.”
Minnesota added LaMelo Ball to pair with Edwards in a backcourt built to put multiple creators on the floor. Ball’s arrival should give Edwards more opportunities to work away from the ball while also allowing either guard to initiate offense. The roster also remains deep around four-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert, the club’s established paint anchor.
Gobert said the group enters the season with more experience and an emphasis on being connected when the games tighten in May and June.
“We are a year wiser,” Gobert said. “We have a really tight group. We love each other. We want to see each other succeed and win. Our goal is to improve our habits and cohesiveness, so when it’s May and June, we can handle anything.”
A league with a new champion every year
The NBA has not repeated a champion since the current eight-title run began. The sequence has included franchises ending long waits, winning their first crown, and returning to the top after being counted out.
- Toronto won its only NBA title in 2019.
- The Los Angeles Lakers went from missing the playoffs for six straight years to champions in 2020.
- Milwaukee captured the 2021 championship, ending a 50-year wait.
- Golden State won again in 2022 despite outside questions about whether its dynasty had finished.
- Denver earned its first title in 2023.
- Boston returned to the championship level in 2024.
- Oklahoma City delivered a title to the Sooner State in 2025.
- New York won last season, ending a 53-year championship drought.
That history leaves a crowded field of teams trying to become a ninth different champion in nine years. Miami last won in 2013 and now has Giannis Antetokounmpo and Klay Thompson alongside Bam Adebayo. Portland has Damian Lillard back and healthy. Philadelphia reshaped its roster by adding LeBron James and Jaylen Brown. Detroit finished as the East’s No. 1 seed last year, with Cade Cunningham continuing to rise, while Indiana brings Tyrese Haliburton back after nearly winning the 2025 title.
Edwards is chasing only one outcome
Edwards already has Olympic gold, four All-Star selections and a career-high 28.8 points per game from last season. He was also a Clutch Player of the Year finalist. If he clears the NBA’s 65-game eligibility requirement, he should enter the MVP conversation.
None of that is the finish line in his view. The championship ring remains the organizing principle behind his daily routine.
“It’s just the ring,” Edwards said. “I wake up every day, go to the gym, work out, treatment, weights, go to the gym again, work out, treatment, weights. Everything is based on what can I do to win the ring. I’m not only working out for the ring. I’m working out to go through all the ups and downs that get me to the ring.”
For Minnesota, the next step is no longer merely another long playoff stay. Edwards and the Wolves are measuring this season against the one thing that has eluded the franchise: finishing the job.
