Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns are clearly the press duo the world needs.
The Timberwolves’ star pair put on a show with the media in a viral exchange after Sunday night’s historic comeback in Game 7 against the Nuggets and a 98-90 victory to advance to the Western Conference finals.
It all started with a question about the Timberwolves’ journey so far.
“Usually NBA history says you have to lose a lot of times before you win. What the hell is this team saying…” the reporter asked.
“We lost last year,” Towns interjected.
“Yes, but that’s not true,” the reporter replied. “On a bigger stage, it’s normal to lose. Teams usually lose…”
“It’s the playoffs. We lost last year,” Towns said with a laugh.
“We’ve lost the last two years, well,” Edwards said.
“Damn, we’re going to lose more than this,” Towns said, laughing again.
“How much do you want us to lose?” Edwards asked with a smile.
“We’ve been losing for 20 years!” Towns said.
“So that’s the truth, dog,” Edwards continued.
“Damn,” Towns ends the clip with a laugh.
As they both pointed out, the Timberwolves are perennial losers, so the reporters’ questions certainly meandered a bit before getting to the point.
Indeed, this will be Minnesota’s first appearance in the conference finals since Kevin Garnett led the Timberwolves to the final four in 2004.
But this year, with Minnesota making the playoffs for the third consecutive season, and after two first-round eliminations, including last year’s by the same Nuggets, this group finally made its proverbial breakthrough.
“I’ve been here nine years. I’ve said I want to win and I want to do something special with this organization,” Towns said. “Despite all the failures, all the things that didn’t happen, all the disappointments that came with it, we were able to have this moment, even this moment of celebration of victory.
“For me, having been around for nine years, I’ve seen it all, I’ve seen it all… To be on this year, with these players, on this team, at the end of the day, it’s so special.”
After this exchange, the reporter concluded by asking both of them why they were so confident they could make further progress and that reaching the conference finals was not just a plateau.
The entire exchange played out like a routine for Abbott and Costello, in contrast to Nuggets coach Mike Malone, who asked a reporter a “dumb question” during a tense moment.
Minnesota has never been to the NBA Finals, but they are the favorites to win the Western Conference at -180 on FanDuel.
“It starts with head coach Chris Finch,” Edwards said. “He does a great job of getting us going every night.”
