Julius Randle knows a thing or two about having a supremely confident teammate, and he put Anthony Edwards on that level. Edwards's postseason play has raised eyebrows around the NBA this season as he has taken his game to another level.

On Wednesday night, the Minnesota Timberwolves punched their ticket to the Western Conference Finals for the second straight year. To do so, they had to get past the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors,

After arriving from the New York Knicks via a blockbuster trade, the sometimes clunky style of play that Randle brought to the table didn’t help his approval rating as he tried to find his niche with the Timberwolves. It felt like a marriage that was well on its way to a divorce.

Minnesota Timberwolves forward Julius Randle compared Anthony Edwards to Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant.

Fast forward a few months, and Minnesota is headed back to the conference finals in no small part because of Randle, who continued the best stretch of basketball of his postseason -- and probably professional -- life with 27 points on 12-of-17 shooting on Wednesday as the Wolves eliminated the Warriors in five games.

Timberwolves' power forward has finally emerged as a playoff force to complement superstar Anthony Edwards. 'I had a great mentor in Kobe Bryant,' he says.

Find out if Anthony Edwards is playing against the Minnesota Timberwolves as they advance to 2-1 lead over the Bay Area team.

Aaron Gordon might be the gold standard of the "struggling leading man to role player" transformation right now. After never finding his place in Orlando, he has become Mr. Nugget in Denver by giving up the on-ball portion of his offensive game,