Timberwolves owner Alex Rodriguez salutes Anthony Edwards & co. for achieving franchise first 

Following an elimination at the hands of the OKC Thunder on Wednesday, Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves were shouted out by new owner Alex Rodriguez on social media.

Rodriguez - who took majority ownership of the team after winning an arbitration alongside Marc Lore against Glen Taylor - shouted out Edwards and the T-Wolves for leading the team to their first back-to-back conference finals appearance in franchise history.

In a post on X (formerly known as Twitter), he wrote, in part:

"We’re so proud of the @Timberwolves players, coaches, staff, and our amazing fans — for making history with back-to-back trips to the Western Conference Finals for the first time in our 36-year history."

While the upcoming season will be a significant one for Edwards and the team, it will also be a pivotal one for Rodriguez and Lore, who have been working to finalize the deal to purchase the team since 2021.

While the pair had purchased a 40% ownership stake in the team and planned to increase their ownership to 80% per the terms of the 2021 agreement, Glen Taylor decided that the team was no longer for sale.

After an arbitration process, the two will now have controlling interest in the team heading into next season.

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"Nobody's going to work harder than me this summer," - Anthony Edwards excited for the future despite second straight WCF exit

After coming up short in the Western Conference finals last season, Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves set their sights on improving upon their playoff run this year.

Despite the second straight exit in the Western Conference finals, Edwards is optimistic about the future and hungrier than ever for success.

Following Wednesday's loss, he spoke with members of the press, where he was asked whether the loss hurt.

"It's exciting. I don't know why people think it would hurt. I mean, 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."

"We tried last year, couldn't get it. We tried again this year. We're gonna try again next year, but hurting is a terrible word to use, I'm good."

Anthony Edwards has improved yearly. After averaging 19.3 points as a rookie, he scored 21.3 points in his sophomore season. In 2022-23, he reached 24.6 points per game, then 25.9 ppg last season, and a career-high of 27.6 ppg this season. He also improved his 3-point percentage, despite a career-high 10.3 attempts per game.