Minnesota star Anthony Edwards is acutely aware of how this is the NBA's parity era, with eight different franchises winning the last eight championships.
That stat might give some teams hope.
Edwards looks at the situation differently.
“I don’t really have hope. I just got will,” Edwards told The Associated Press. “I’m just all will. It's like, ‘I don’t think he’s better than me. I don’t think that they can beat me and my team.' It’s just that simple.
Whoever we line up against, you just not going to sit here and tell me that their team is going to beat our team. It’s that simple, I don't hope. I don’t wish for nothing. It’s straight will and determination. And we're going to show it every night.”
That sounds like the words of a star ready to lead his team to a breakthrough. If recent history is to be believed, there indeed will be a breakthrough club this season.
New York won it all last season, ending a 53-year championship drought. Oklahoma City broke through the year before that, delivering a long-awaited title to the Sooner State. Boston returned to the NBA pinnacle in 2024, Denver got its first title in 2023, Golden State — after hearing its dynasty was over — won again in 2022, Milwaukee ended a half-century of waiting with its crown in 2021, the Los Angeles Lakers went from six years out of the playoffs to champions in 2020 and Toronto got its only championship in 2019.
This year, there are no shortage of candidates to be the next team to extend the NBA's diversity era and give the league what would be a ninth different champion in nine years. Maybe it'll be Miami, which last won it all in 2013 and now has Giannis Antetokounmpo and Klay Thompson to play alongside Bam Adebayo. Maybe it'll be Portland, with Damian Lillard back and healthy. Philadelphia is an obvious choice, after an offseason where it landed LeBron James and Jaylen Brown. Detroit was the Eastern Conference's No. 1 seed a year ago, and Cade Cunningham keeps getting better. Indiana nearly won a title in 2025 and now has Tyrese Haliburton back.
Or, maybe it'll be the Timberwolves — a team that has been knocking at the door for a while now, with 24 playoff wins (third-most in the NBA behind New York and Oklahoma City, both with 33) over the last three seasons. LaMelo Ball was brought in to form what should be a dynamic backcourt with Edwards, and Minnesota has the highest of expectations.
“How many times do you sit at the big table vs. the kids table? You've just got to keep sitting down at the big table, and eventually you can punch through,” Minnesota coach Chris Finch said. “This parity that we're in means if you sit down at the table, you have a chance. And I feel like we are that type of team and organization.”
The Wolves went to the Western Conference finals in 2023 and 2024, then made the West semifinals last season. Edwards is one of the game's brightest stars and probably hasn't reached his ceiling. Ball's presence means Edwards will be free to create more, and vice versa. There is no shortage of depth and the Wolves have a certified rim-protecting star in Rudy Gobert, a four-time Defensive Player of the Year.
“And we are a year wiser,” Gobert said. “We have a really tight group. We love each other. We want to see each other succeed, each other win. ... Our goal is to improve our habits and cohesiveness, so when it’s May, June, we can handle anything.”
Edwards has an Olympic gold medal, is a four-time All-Star, just turned 25, was a finalist for Clutch Player of the Year last season and averaged a career-best 28.8 points per game. Assuming he hits the 65-game required threshold, it's almost certain that he would be an MVP candidate.
That's all nice, but he said only one thing motivates him.
“It’s just the ring,” Edwards said. “I wake up every day, go to the gym, work out, treatment, weights, go to the gym again, work out, treatment, weights. Everything is based on what can I do to win the ring. And it's not like I’m only working out for the ring. I’m working out to go through all the ups and downs to get me to the ring.”
The ring comes with a championship, the breakthrough that the Timberwolves and so many other teams will try to have this season.
