Shannon Sharpe goes off on Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle for letting down T'Wolves

Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle folded under pressure in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals, arguably the most important moment in the Minnesota Timberwolves’ season. Their underwhelming performances played a large role in their 128-126 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder and have been facing backlash from the basketball community, including Shannon Sharpe.

On Monday’s episode of Nightcap, Sharpe criticized the Edwards-Randle one-two punch for their lackluster offensive contribution. He highlighted that the Minnesota bench surprisingly outscored the starting five 64-62.

“The mere fact that the game was this close when your second best player gave you five (points) and your best player shot 5-13 and 1-7 from the 3-point line and had gave you 16 (points), the mere fact that you're in the ball game, lets you know how well the others played,” Sharpe said (timestamp 12:02 onwards).

“It's hard, I'm not saying it's impossible, but it's really hard if your two best players play as poorly as Julius Randle and Ant-Man played and your role players play that good because they played sensational.”

Game 4 marked one of the worst postseason outings for both Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle in 2025. Edwards scored just 16 points on 5-13 shooting, including an abysmal 1-7 from 3-point land. Randle was even worse, finishing with only five points and as many turnovers on a poor 14.3% shooting.

As Sharpe mentioned, Minnesota’s bench stepped up to keep them competitive. Donte DiVincenzo, Naz Reid and Nickeil Alexander-Walker combined for 55 points. However, their valiant effort wasn’t enough to prevent the Thunder from taking a commanding 3-1 lead in the series.

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Anthony Edwards doesn’t agree with the narrative that he “struggled”

Contrary to popular opinion, Anthony Edwards doesn’t believe he “struggled” in Game 4. Instead, the combo guard credited the OKC Thunder’s defense for keeping the ball out of his hands for most of the game.

"I don't look at it like I struggled," Edwards said, via ESPN. "They just, they had a good game plan, making us get off the ball. Especially for me, man. They were super in the gaps, I made the right play all night."

"I didn't get enough shots to say I struggled, so that might be how you guys look at it. But, yeah, I didn't struggle at all. I just made the right play."

Anthony Edwards isn’t wrong in pointing out his limited shot attempts. But with the Timberwolves trailing 2-1 in the Western Conference Finals, more is expected from their primary scorer.

Even if his scoring opportunities were limited, he could’ve impacted the game in other ways. Unfortunately, Edwards fell short in playmaking and the defense department as well, finishing with five turnovers and failing to register a steal or block on the defensive end.