Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

‘I Love That Everyone Wants Them to Win’ – Anthony Edwards Embraces Underdog Role Against Lakers

Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

Anthony Edwards is embracing the underdog story involving his side Minnesota Timberwolves, in the upcoming NBA playoffs series. The star forward is wary of the media buzz revolving around their opponent Los Angeles Lakers. In a media briefing after a team training session, Edwards addressed a few questions that also involved the Lakers getting a lot of buzz ahead of his team.

In an ESPN journalists’ poll involving the fixture of the Los Angeles Lakers and the Minnesota Timberwolves, all 11 writers chose the Lakers to advance. Similarly, the overall consensus in the media and fan polls is in favour of LeBron’s side to beat the Timberwolves.

While answering a question about the narrative of the Lakers advancing, Ant-Man said, “I just love it. It’s dope. I love the fact that everybody wants the Lakers to win. That’s how it’s supposed to be. They don’t want the Timberwolves to win. I get it.”

Bronny James played as Anthony Edwards today for the Lakers scout team 👀 (per @jovanbuha)

This series HEATING UP 🔥🍿 pic.twitter.com/zL5c4dvHCA
— Overtime (@overtime) April 16, 2025

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Anthony Edwards is wary of the overwhelming following of the Los Angeles Lakers and the kind of attention it gets from big media houses. One of the primary reasons is the strong history of the Lakers and LeBron James’ stature as a modern legend of the game. Timberwolves will look to shatter the buzz by advancing against the ‘favourites’ Lakers.

The Minnesota Timberwolves overcame a challenging period in the latter half of the season to qualify for the NBA Playoffs. Their dramatic run in the end led them to the 6th seed with a record of .598. In the process, despite being the playoffs favourites, the Golden State Warriors plummeted to the Play-In territory. Anthony Edwards’ side were the underdog here as well, but they didn’t let the media buzz get to them.

Anthony Edwards Shares How the Lakers Might Try to Contain Him

Anthony Edwards, who has experience playing against the Los Angeles Lakers also briefed about the kind of plan that the 17-time NBA champions would come up against him. Since Lakers don’t have a big center like Anthony Davis anymore, JJ Redick might deploy to counter Ant-Man’s threat on the court.

Anthony Edwards on the tactical side revealed,

“Jaxson Hayes, he may be in a high wall. He may blitz me. He may be in a drop. So, just like I said, just reading and reacting, then they sub him out. Vando, they may blitz me or be heavy in the gaps. Like I said, just being able to trust my teammates. It’s kinda similar to the Phoenix series last year. Like, they was overly doubling me and stuff, and I didn’t let it bother me.”

Jaxson Hayes, a big center, likes to use his physicality to shut down attacks, especially at the rim. His 7-foot-3 stature could come as a handy weapon against Ant-Man’s athleticism-driven play. The matchup of Jaxson Hayes, Jarred Vanderbilt vs Anthony Edwards will be a sight to watch. Moreover, the playoffs series result will also depend on Luka and Edwards’ impact on their respective sides.