After a long and seemingly neverending NBA off-season, training camp pumps that excitement back into fanbases as the first preseason game inches closer and, eventually, the start of the new season. The annual media day always kicks off the training camp festivities. From a player’s perspective, media day can be less fun for them than it is for fans. Who can blame them? Instead of getting to work with their new teammates, they are posted up in front of cameras and microphones all day. Still, it gives the media and fans a great look into how the players and coaches are feeling heading into the new season.
Thursday afternoon, the Minnesota Timberwolves held their media day ahead of the 2023-24 season. The team had a relatively quiet off-season compared to last summer, so the hype surrounding the day wasn’t as high. However, we still got some great quotes from the team. If you couldn’t catch all of the interviews, I have decided to compile one quote from Tim Connelly, Chris Finch, and every player who is expected to be in the rotation this season. This means that I left out Leonard Miller, Jordan McLaughlin, Wendell Moore Jr., Josh Minott, Jaylen Clark, and Luka Garza in hopes of keeping this as concise as possible.
(I have lightly edited the transcript for clarity and conciseness.)
Tim Connelly
Q: What do Ant’s high hopes for next season look like to you? Is this now Ant’s team?
All our success is about team success. If we win, we’ll be taken more seriously. If we win, the personal accolades will come. Relative to who’s team, it’s a collective team. We have to win to be taken seriously. I don’t think until you have postseason success that those things matter. I think we have a core group that’s really bought in, really connected, and really excited about starting the season.
Tim Connelly was very playoff-winning-driven during his interview. It’s obvious that the front office’s mindset is focused beyond the regular season. That includes individual player achievements – everything comes with winning, beating the teams you should, and playing with a higher level of effort.
Chris Finch
Q: Do you have what this team’s best identity should be in mind?
We should be defensively led. We have a lot of individual defenders. Certainly, Rudy is the backline. Offensively, we have to be way more mindful of our spacing and figure out how we can best utilize KAT in that way. We need to be a little bit tougher. More 50-50 balls, I don’t think we got enough of those last year. Get a little bit grittier and play a little bigger like a big team should. Pound the glass on both ends and be a little bit more physical in the paint.
Karl-Anthony Towns
Q: What did you learn during your short time with Ant and Rudy last season, and how can you bottle that headed into the season?
Just trust in each other. Letting the game come to us. Being aggressive. All three of us. Try to take whatever is given to us and let the defense dictate who gets the shot. So, just not forcing anything and being smart with the basketball.
Rudy Gobert
Q: How different do you feel coming into year 2 in Minnesota vs. year 1?
It’s a lot different. I got to experience moving, the trade, the new franchise, the new fanbase, the new coaching staff, and my new teammates. It was a process. It was a fun process, but it’s still a process. We went through a lot last year, I thought it was a really interesting year. I think we’ve grown a lot, both individually and collectively. I feel really excited being back here with this group. I can feel the energy, and I feel it’s going to be a good year for us. I’m really excited.
Anthony Edwards
Q: Do you feel any extra weight on your shoulders coming into this season, and what does a big step look like for you?
Nah, not at all. I got Big KAT, who’s a superstar. He is going to be one of the best players in the league this year. He’s going to take a lot of pressure off me. I’m putting a lot of pressure on him. I’m going to need my teammates to do it. I can’t do anything without my teammates. As long as we go out there as a group of five, whoever is on the court, we come together and win, and I do what I do individually; I think whatever next step that is expected of me to take, I’ll take, but it has to be within my teammates.
Mike Conley
Q: What do you think this team needs to do, good and bad, to take that next step?
Honestly, I left the last playoff game wondering how good we could have been, given the fact that we were down a few guys most of the time I was here. If it was KAT, it was Jaden, it was Naz, it was just different guys in and out. Finding a rhythm and finding that cohesiveness was something I hoped to get right away. We never got a chance to build that.
Going into the summer, those same guys we have, we had a chance to make a run. We had a chance to put people’s attention on the Minnesota Timberwolves and what we are capable of doing. A lot of excitement leading into this season because we got those same guys back and added a few guys. So far, everybody is healthy. Just try to keep that and see what we can do.
Jaden McDaniels
Q: Can you continue to develop as a scoring threat, or are you okay with being the fourth or fifth option on this star-heavy team?
I feel like I can continue to get better and grow higher. Continuing to make my production more. I feel like I can be a one or two-scoring option on an NBA team. Having that confidence, shoot, I could go out there and score 25 points every night if I wanted to.
Naz Reid
Q: What does being a more mature team look like to you?
I think the way we handle things. We are able to speak to each other with a matter of respect, and even if it isn’t with the matter that you like, we understand the message and not how it’s being displayed. I think that was a big thing for us last year. And the way we handle ourselves on and off the court. Definitely on the court. We are going out there to win games; the fans pay to see that. The game of basketball has to mean a lot to us. Like I said before, we are here to win. We are not here to just go out there a loligag.
Kyle Anderson
Q: Is there a different level of maturity coming into this season as opposed to last season?
I think looking in the mirror, first and foremost. The fact that I got into it with one of my teammates last year, that just didn’t sit well with me this summer. And getting five technicals last year. Looking back on it, that’s just not who I am. So maybe I can look at it as a rough year.
I’m looking forward to this year. Being a better teammate and not costing my team points with technicals. That stuff just shouldn’t happen. I think as a team, we should do a better job preparing for games, giving ourselves a chance to win, and knowing the scouting report. In order to be good in this league, you have to give yourself a chance to win by preparing. I think we can do a better job as a team at doing that.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker
Q: Can you play the same way to did last season in the playoffs throughout an entire 82-game season?
I don’t see why not. I think my approach is always going to be the same throughout the season or the playoffs. I approach the game the same way. I have a love for the game, and I don’t want to get to the playoffs and have to turn it on. I don’t have that luxury. For me, it’s about staying ready.
Shake Milton
Q: How did your signing process play out? Did the team mention minutes or a certain role?
No minutes; we didn’t really talk about that. It was just more the fit. Coach was just telling me how he liked my versatility. He knows I can be on the ball, be a point guard, and also have the mentality of scoring and really look to be aggressive. I think with Mike and Ant coming in I think I can affect the game in many different ways. Especially making an impact with the second unit to get things going or slide up to the first unit and help out and do what needs to be done.
Troy Brown Jr.
Q: How do you view the competition of playing time heading into training camp?
I think that’s what can make us really good this year is our depth. We have a lot of guys with a lot of talent and versatility. Being able to make sure that we’re on top of our games because somebody else behind us could take our minutes is something that keeps teams honest and keeps everybody working hard. I don’t mind it. If anything, it’s going to make us really good this year.
Of course, we need to take everything said at media day with a grain of salt. It’s very easy to come away with the mindset that the team will be incredible, have no flaws, and make a deep run in the postseason. Putting the annual overhype that follows aside, we still got a great look into common themes the media brought up and how players are feeling as training camp gives way to the 2023-24 season.
