Anthony Edwards describes Wolves as “frontrunners” after defeat.

In his four-plus NBA seasons, Anthony Edwards has never been afraid to speak his mind.

But the Minnesota Timberwolves star was particularly candid in a profanity-laced explanation of his team’s recent struggles following Wednesday night’s 115-104 loss to the Sacramento Kings.

“Our identity right now is that we’re a pretty darn soft team internally,” Edwards said. “Not towards the other team, but internally we are soft. We can’t talk to each other. Just a few small children. Just like we play with a few small children. Everyone, the whole team. We can just.” “We don’t have to talk to each other because we can’t go down that path.”

Minnesota reached the 2024 Western Conference finals. But the Timberwolves have lost four straight and seven of nine after starting 6-3 this season. A lineup that saw a significant shake-up late in the season with the Karl Anthony Towns trade still seems disjointed at times.

That includes blowing a 12-point lead against Sacramento one day after their 117-111 home overtime loss to Sacramento.

“We certainly seem to be the frontrunners tonight,” Edwards said Wednesday. “We were devastated, nobody wanted to say anything. We stood up and everyone cheered and cheered. We’re back on the ground and no one said anything. That’s the definition of a frontrunner “A team, including myself, we were all frontrunners tonight.”

Edwards added: “Everyone has different goals at the moment. I think that’s one of the main reasons we lose.”

Edwards, who led the Timberwolves with 29 points on 9 of 24 shooting, didn’t admonish his teammates until after the game. More than once he could be seen demonstratively communicating in a crowd with Julius Randle, Rudy Gobert and others.

Randle and guard Donte DiVincenzo were the top players in the October trade that sent Towns to the New York Knicks three weeks before the start of the season. Both have experienced ups and downs in their tenure in the Twin Cities.

Towns has now settled in well with the Knicks.

However, Edwards said it’s not just about the new people.

“I’m talking about the entire team,” Edwards said. “However many of us there are, all 15 of us, we go into our own shell and just distance ourselves from each other. It’s obvious. We can see it. I can see it, the team can see it, the coaches can see it.”

So can the fans, who expressed their collective displeasure more than once on Wednesday evening.

“The fans are booing the hell out of us,” said Edwards, whose team is 8-10 entering Friday’s game against the LA Clippers. “This is crazy, man. We get booed in our home arena. This is so fucking disrespectful, it’s crazy.”