The Timberwolves are tired of talking about decades of struggles

Wolves after eliminating Nuggets: 'Happy birthday KG'

Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards talk about eliminating the Nuggets and advancing to the Western Conference Finals on Kevin Garnett's birthday.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The Minnesota Timberwolves are tired of talking about two-plus decades of futility, instability and bad basketball.

The Timberwolves are in the Western Conference Finals for the first time in 20 years after a 98-90 win over the Denver Nuggets in Game 7 Sunday night. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards sat together at the podium after win fielding questions.

This is the furthest Towns has gone in his nine years with Minnesota, after being selected No. 1 overall in 2015.

Wolves fans react to Game 7 win: Happy B-Day KG!

Minnesota Timberwolves are excited after the team took down the Denver Nuggets in Game 7, sending the team to the Western Conference Finals.

"I’ve been here nine years, I’ve talked about wanting to win and do something special here with this organization," Towns said.

Edwards was quick to jump in.

"Man, f**k them nine years. This year."

A reporter then asks about teams that win championships typically having to go through adversity before they can find success. Since Kevin Garnett led the Timberwolves to the Western Conference Finals in 2004, here’s a glimpse of what’s happened in Minnesota:

Flip Saunders was fired after a 25-26 start 2004-05
Since Saunders was fired, the Timberwolves have had Dwayne Casey, Randy Wittman, Kurt Rambis, Rick Adelman, Sam Mitchell, Tom Thibodeau and Ryan Saunders before Chris Finch was hired in 2021
Saunders died of cancer in October of 2015
The Timberwolves have had Kevin McHale, David Kahn, Saunders, Milt Newton, Thibodeau Scott Layden, Sachin Gupta and Gersson Rosas in charge of the front office before bringing in Tim Connelly. Rosas was fired after having a relationship with a staffer.
Before this season, the Timberwolves had two early playoff exits and reached the playoffs just three times in the last 20 years.
Thibodeau traded for Jimmy Butler, and to say he clashed with Towns is an understatement.
This season marked the best regular season record since 2004. The Wolves have had four seasons of less than 20 wins, five with fewer than 30 wins and six with 40 or fewer wins.

The reporter asks, "Usually NBA history says you have to lose and lose big before you win. What is it about this team?"

Towns: "We lost last year."

Reporter: "That’s different, you have to lose at a bigger stage usually."

Towns: "It’s the playoffs, we lost last year."

Edwards: "We lost the last two years, s**t."

Towns: "God damn, how much more we got to lose?"

Edwards: "How much you want us to lose?"

Towns: "We’ve been losing for 20 years."

Edwards: "I mean that’s just the truth, dog."

Towns: "God damn."

Reporter: "What makes you guys believe that you don’t have to wait any longer? That just getting past the second round isn’t the goal, that you guys can win the next two rounds?

Edwards: "It starts with our head coach, Chris Finch. He’s just a great coach, and he don’t sugar coat anything with anybody. If KAT is f*****g up, he’s going to get on KAT. If I’m f*****g up, he’s going to get on me. If Rudy is f*****g up, he’s going to get on Rudy. Anybody that’s messing up in the game, and that’s what makes him the best coach in the NBA."

Finch was a finalist for the NBA Coach of the Year, and wasn’t here for the Timberwolves’ decades of struggles. Nor does he want to talk about it.

"Everybody talks about the last 30 years, which mean nothing to me. But it does mean a lot to a lot of people to see this team, root for this team, the city is behind this team. To beat a team like Denver on their home floor the way we did, of course it’s going to mean a lot."

The Timberwolves are now four wins away from playing in the NBA Finals, something that’s hard to grasp after the biggest win in franchise history.