Anthony Edwards says Wolves beat NBA’s ‘best closers’ in LeBron and Luka: ’So who the f—k we worried about?’

In one of the more surprising series outcomes so far in the 2025 NBA Playoffs, the No. 6 seed Minnesota Timberwolves sent the No. 3 seed Los Angeles Lakers home in five games in the Western Conference’s opening round.

The play of star guard Anthony Edwards was crucial to Minnesota pulling off the upset, as he averaged 26.8 points, 8.4 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game versus Los Angeles.

The Timberwolves will play either the Houston Rockets or Golden State Warriors in the second round. The Warriors currently have a 3-2 lead in their best-of-seven series against the Rockets.

While Minnesota’s second-round opponent isn’t yet set in stone, Edwards seems to believe that the Timberwolves should be full of confidence after eliminating the league’s “best closers” in his eyes in stars LeBron James and Luka Doncic.

“Bro, we shot 7-for-47 from 3, and we beat Luka and LeBron,” Edwards said after Game 5. “I think they the best closers in the game, so who the f— we worried about?”

Even though the Lakers came up well short of advancing in the playoffs, Doncic and James were both productive in the losing effort for Los Angeles. They both averaged at least 25 points, seven rebounds and five assists per contest during the series.

The difference in the series might have been that unlike with L.A., the supporting players around Edwards often played well. The likes of Julius Randle, Jaden McDaniels, Naz Reid and Rudy Gobert were all key contributors at various points.

Edwards knows what it takes to advance deep into the playoffs, as he recently helped the Timberwolves to just their second Western Conference Finals appearance in team history in the 2024 NBA Playoffs. Minnesota knocked off the defending champions at the time in the Denver Nuggets in the second round to secure a spot in the conference finals.

But Edwards has yet to reach the NBA Finals and get a taste of the championship series, and he will try to help Minnesota come out of the West this year. The Timberwolves have yet to appear in a single NBA Finals in franchise history.

Time will reveal whether Edwards is right if he believes the Timberwolves don’t have much to worry about now that they’ve booted James and Doncic from the 2025 NBA Playoffs. Despite his confidence, he likely knows that more tests await. Folks should anticipate an entertaining second-round series regardless of whether the Timberwolves play the Rockets or Warriors.