Anthony Edwards Defends Julius Randle from 'Bad Narrative Going Around' amid Playoffs

Anthony Edwards expressed his support of Julius Randle amid Randle's struggles in the Minnesota Timberwolves' Game 4 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night.

Randle was held to five points on 1-for-7 shooting as the Thunder put the Wolves on the brink of elimination from the Western Conference Finals.

"I feel like there's been a bad narrative going around about him, as far as the type of person he is," Edwards told ESPN's Dave McMenamin. "He's the coolest person. He's one of the coolest people I've ever met. I love Julius, man."

Randle helped the Wolves claim the team's first win of the series by posting 24 points in a Game 3 blowout on Saturday night.

Three days later, Randle struggled on both offense and defense in a performance that saw him benched for the majority of the final eight minutes of Game 4.

When asked about the benching, Wolves head coach Chris Finch told reporters, "He didn't have a great night, obviously."

Edwards was more defensive of Randle's performance when asked about himself and his teammate both struggling in the Game 4 loss.

"I don't look at it like, I struggled, or he struggled," Edwards told reporters on Monday night. "They just had a good game, making us get off the ball. Especially for me, man, it was super in the gaps."

This reportedly isn't the first time Edwards has defended Randle during his up-and-down series against the Thunder.

ESPN's Brian Windhorst previously reported that Edwards "approached Randle on the plane and encouraged him to keep his spirits up" after Finch benched Randle toward the end of Game 2.

Newly-crowned NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander put up 40 points in the Thunder's Game 4 win. The Timberwolves will need a stronger defensive performance from Randle in order to limit him and extend the series with a victory in Wednesday night's Game 5.