How the Minnesota Timberwolves went from ‘We can’t talk to each other’ to first-round NBA playoffs winner

After the Timberwolves dropped a fourth consecutive game, to the Kings on Nov. 27, Anthony Edwards held court at his locker and tried to diagnose where the season was going wrong. That interview session was unlike any he has had in five seasons with the Wolves.

Edwards was an open book that night after the Wolves fell to 8-10, and he lamented that the players couldn’t talk to each other like other teams could.

Among the things Edwards said that night: “However many of us it is, all 15, we go into our own shell and we’re just growing away from each other. It’s obvious.”

He added: “We can’t talk to each other. … Just like we playing with a bunch of little kids. Everybody, the whole team. We just can’t talk to each other. And we’ve got to figure it out, because we can’t go down this road.”

Flash forward to Game 4 of the playoff series against the Lakers, and these comments from Edwards after the Wolves took a 3-1 lead against the Lakers in a series nobody expected them.

“The best thing about our whole locker room, for me, is the way they allow me to talk to them,” he said. “The way I talk, it may come off as hard, mean or disrespectful. But none of my teammates take it that way. I think that’s the best thing about it. I get on Jaden. … I get on Rudy, everybody. We all coachable and we all can talk to each other.”

How did the Wolves get to that point, from not being able to talk to each other in November to the point where they could say anything and not get hurt or upset? It’s one of the reasons the Wolves saved their season and are on the eve of a second-round playoff series.

“There was a lot of frustration early on in the season that led to some of those walls being put up,” coach Chris Finch said. “But I don’t think that was the nature of who we truly are.”

The one blowup that fans could see happened a few days before Edwards’ comments, in a loss Nov. 21 to the Raptors in Toronto. Rudy Gobert, visibly upset he didn’t receive a pass from Julius Randle in the post, took a three-second violation and then committed a foul on the other end of the floor.

It epitomized where the Wolves were at that moment, a team struggling to find a new identity while integrating newcomers to the team in Randle and Donte DiVincenzo. The honeymoon period was over, and the Wolves were inconsistent, at best, in those early months. But despite the frustrations on the court or at practice, the Wolves didn’t let the issues derail them.

“It’s a sign of every team maturing and trusting each other,” Finch said. “It starts in the film room, starts on the practice floor, in our safe spaces, like sometimes, when you are out of these emotionally charged environments, it’s easier to communicate. We have guys that are high-character guys who are highly coachable. So if you get them in the right atmosphere, there is certainly a dialogue to take place.”

As the season went on, Finch was trying to find the right combinations of players to fit together, especially to close games. He admitted after the Lakers series that led to some disappointed players at times.

“If you looked at some early games, there was certainly some guys who were not happy that they weren’t closing, not happy that they weren’t starting, not happy this, not happy that,” Finch said. “To their credit, they put it all aside.”

Both Edwards and Gobert pointed to a pivotal moment that helped turn the season around: a meeting before the team played the Suns on March 2. It came as Randle made his return from a groin injury that had sidelined him for just over a month. The team had weathered a stretch in which Randle, DiVincenzo, Gobert and Mike Conley missed time for various maladies. They were getting back to full health, which meant minutes and roles might decline for some players, and there was a need now to be selfless as the Wolves made their push to secure a top-six seed in the playoffs.

“Our whole demeanor changed,” Edwards said. “We had a team meeting with Finchy and the coaches. They got on us, and I feel like everybody responded the right way. Everybody looked in the mirror and said it’s a lot of things I can do better for myself to help the team instead of trying to blame somebody. Everybody became a grown man, in a sense.”

Said Gobert: “We talked about either we turn it up now and we decide … to take advantage of the time that we have. Or we don’t and we’re going to be out of the playoffs, and we have a bunch of excuses but with nothing accomplished. After that things started to click a little more, but it only happened because of what we went through earlier in the season.”

Randle said he came back with a renewed mindset when it came to the team’s offense. He and Finch had been adjusting his game to have him embrace more of a point forward role, whereas earlier in the season he had been looking to score more frequently. That started to click before Randle got hurt, and when he was out he got a feel for how well the offense operated with crisper ball movement.

“Julius really came back with a poise, a focus that brought us life,” Nickeil Alexander-Walker said. “We missed having his presence on the court, so that was really helpful. When he came back and when Rudy came back, those guys just picked up where they left off and then added some more.”

The Wolves closed the season 17-4 after Randle’s return.

“We have all good guys in this locker room, everybody’s intentions are great,” Randle said. “So it was never a point of somebody’s attitude or whatever it was. It was just figuring out the best way to communicate with each other.”

The Wolves’ players-only group chat was one way the team was able to bridge that communication gap. Back in December, multiple players told the Star Tribune it was an effective tool for letting them get their points across outside of a heated postgame locker room, when emotions could run high.

“[The group chat] is where most guys feel comfortable being able to express what they’re thinking,” DiVincenzo said then.

Alexander-Walker said the process just naturally took time — and winning later in the season certainly helped too.

“Time kind of heals all, and also [building] that familiarity with every single group of personalities that comes together,” Alexander-Walker said. “Winning helps. At the time, we were losing close games as well. So it hurts a little more, but when you start to win those close games, things become a little lighthearted. It’s a mixture of everything. Guys are looking in the mirror a lot more and embracing what we can do. Guys are playing for each other a lot better.”

Eventually, his teammates got to where Edwards wanted them to be when it came to communication. He learned how best he can talk individually with everyone.

“You can’t deliver a message the same way to one through 15,” he said after Game 1 of the playoffs. “Some guys I got to talk to, pull them to the side. Some guys I can cuss at them. … I step into that role, and my teammates trust me and they listen.”

It took multiple months, it took plenty of close losses and plenty of frustration, but the Wolves transformed themselves from that November night when Edwards pleaded for them to communicate better. It felt like a moment when things could go south quickly, but they held it together and became the only group in franchise history to win playoff series in consecutive seasons. That’s something to talk about.

“We preach from Day 1 that you’re going to get honesty,” Finch said. “… We just need to have the ability to have it from each other, which is the most important thing, from player to player. Once guys accepted that we had to make some sacrifices and figure out what everyone’s best role was on the team, everything started to go better from there.”