The Minnesota Timberwolves were eliminated from the Western Conference finals for the second straight year on Wednesday night, this time at the hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
You would think that getting that close to the championship but falling short yet again would hurt an inordinate amount—that's surely the logical conclusion for most people, anyway.
But when asked if it did, in fact, upset him, Wolves star Anthony Edwards was pretty level-headed and honestly unbothered in his response.
"It's exciting," Edwards said of the exit. "I don't know why people would think it would hurt. It's exciting for me. I'm 23, I get to do it a whole bunch of times. I'm hurt more so ... for Mike [Conley]. I came up short for Mike. Like I said, we tried last year, we couldn't get it. We tried again this year. Going to try again next year. But 'hurting' is a terrible word to use. I'm good."
Watch that below:
"I don't know why people would think it would hurt. It's exciting for me. I'm 23, I get to do it a whole bunch of times."
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 29, 2025
-Ant on how much it hurt to get eliminated before Finals two years in a row pic.twitter.com/9qbK0lGGFd
Regarding Conley, Edwards had also made clear Wednesday night that his goal is to get his 37-year-old teammate to the Finals.
"I'm gonna work my butt off this summer," he said during the presser. "Nobody's gonna work harder than me this summer, I'll tell you that much. I'll try to make it happen again for Mike."
Well, you know what they say: third time's the charm. Indeed, maybe Ant's quote will ring true and the stars will align for a Conley-filled Finals. And until then, let's hope the future Face of the NBA stays as excited as he is right now.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Anthony Edwards Had Level-Headed Reason for Why Playoff Exit Doesn’t ‘Hurt’.
