Anthony Edwards was all smiles as he fielded questions during Timberwolves’ Media Day on Monday.

During his time at the press conference table, it was noted he was no longer “one of the young guys” on the team.

“I’m 24, y’all,” he responded.

So it’s time to get going, then.

While Edwards meant the statement as a reminder he is still a young player, many of the game’s best in recent decades fully exerted their league-wide dominance at that age.

In their Age 24 seasons ..

–Michael Jordan won his first NBA Most Valuable Player award.

-LeBron James won his first MVP award.

-Kawhi finished second in MVP voting.

-Kobe Bryant finished third in MVP voting.

Winning the MVP this season is a stated goal for Edwards. Asked how he can join that conversation – Edwards has yet to finish in the top six in voting – he noted the Timberwolves have to “win at a high level,” while adding he needs to “average a whole bunch of points.”

The former is certainly a requirement to claim the honor, and the latter never hurts your bid. But Leonard averaged just 21.2 points when he was MVP runner-up. However, that was also the season in which he claimed his second straight Defensive Player of the Year honor.

At age 24.

And he’s not alone in his two-way excellence:

In their Age 24 seasons:

-Michael Jordan also won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award.

-LeBron James finished second in DPOY voting.

-Kobe Bryant made his fourth-straight NBA All-Defense team.

Those players separated themselves from the pack by dominating both ends of the floor.

That’s something Edwards has yet to do consistently in his career. In five seasons, he has not sniffed an All-Defense team. That’s despite having the physical ability to be one of the League’s biggest defensive disruptors.

His transition block at the buzzer to beat the Pacers in 2024 stands as one of the most electric defensive plays of the decade. More recently, Edwards was the motor behind Minnesota’s dominant defensive display in its Game 3 win over Oklahoma City in last year’s Western Conference Finals.

“We all have seen the type and level of defender Ant can be,” Finch said.

But those moments have been far more the outliers than the norm for Edwards early in his career. The guard is talented enough to raise that level in spurts. But it hasn’t been engrained enough to be who he is.

His pressure on the ball comes and goes. His off-ball attention wanes. His effort fluctuates. His post-Jan. 1 defensive rating was far and away the worst on the team last season (113.6).

Can that be different this season?

“Ah, it’s going to be tough,” Edwards said.

Why? Well, Mike Conley noted after that Game 3 performance from Edwards that he has the thought of “Why don’t we do this all the time?” when the guard is wreaking defensive havoc. But the veteran noted Edwards is “asked to do a lot.”

“So it’s really hard for him to give the energy all the time that he can defensively,’ Conley said at the time.

That’s a fallacy in the mind of Wolves coach Chris Finch.

“It’s an NBA mantra that if you do so much on offense, you’re allowed to not play defense,” Finch said. “The best teams don’t do that. They do what’s necessary as much as they possibly can.”

The same is true for the best players, as proven by the greats who’ve come before Edwards.

The Timberwolves held a team dinner Monday on the eve of training camp. Conley said the discussion was centered on what the team’s goal was for the season. The consensus was a championship.

For Minnesota to contend for a title, it has to be one of – if not the – best defensive teams in the NBA. That can’t happen without Edwards serving as a gamebreaker on that end of the floor.

“Ant, you want to win a championship, we expect you to guard like you’re a top-five perimeter defender in the league, which we believe you are,” Conley said. “Jaden, myself, whoever is out on the court, we have a job to do, and then we got to be consistent every single day. And Ant’s at the front of that. Especially on that defensive end, with him competing the way he can compete, we’re a completely different team.

“He knows it, and it’s going to require a lot more. It’s going to get him uncomfortable, a little bit. A little bit more tired, a little bit more in shape he has to be. But those are things we’re trying to round out to try to knock down that door.”

Truthfully, Edwards has worn down by the end of each of Minnesota’s last two playoff runs. You have to be in phenomenal shape to be one of the game’s true two-way players.

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) poses for a photo during the NBA basketball team’s media day, Monday, Sept. 29, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Edwards seems to understand as much. Tim Connelly, the Timberwolves president of basketball operations, said Edwards’ work ethic has always been great, but noted it was “at a whole other level” this summer. Edwards looks leaner in camp and lighter on his feet. He feels as though he’s quicker and can jump higher. And he noted he now has eight-pack abs, to boot.

“His body is in unbelievable shape,” Connelly said. “It’s pretty impressive to see how quickly he’s matured, not just as a player, but as a professional with his approach.”

That includes sleep, something Edwards made a point all offseason to get 7-to-8 hours of each night.

How much shuteye was he getting in past seasons?

“None of your business,” Edwards replied with a smile.

He pleads the fifth.

“The little things, the consistency, the maturity of getting to the next play. This is what’s going to take him from a really, really good player to a unique, all-time great player and I think is what’s going to allow him to be the best in the world at impacting winning,” Wolves center Rudy Gobert said. “I really sense that he understands that now. … I think he understands his recovery, his sleep, the way he eats, all these things are really going to impact his success and our success as a team. It’s fun to see that. It’s good to see. I’ve been on his (butt) for a few years, but it’s fun to see that. That, to me, is clear maturity. He’s still really young, but to watch that he understands that now and he carries himself that way, it’s going to come a long way for us.”

Edwards is skeptical he can join the likes of Leonard and Jordan in winning Defensive Player of the Year, noting Gobert and Jaden McDaniels are already in that conversation for the Wolves. But the goal of making an All-Defensive team – a tongue-in-cheek aspiration in the past – is now a legitimate venture as he aims to “show the world” the defender he can consistently be.

“Because we’re trying to get back to the number one defense in the league, and I know it starts with me, especially my pressure on the ball,” Edwards said. “I can’t guard one game and not guard the next game because we’re playing, you know, somebody who’s not up to par. I’ve got to be ready every night, and I’m going to take pride in that. I told my teammates to hold me accountable, coaches included.”

You hear that, Finch?

“Ant has got to measure up here,” the coach said. “Just continue to be that every-night player at a high level that we know he can be, which is what you need to do if you want to be an MVP in this league. I certainly think he’s got the DNA for it, and he just has to really fully embrace it.”

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Pregnancy comes with its share of aches and pains, including headaches, back pain, and general discomfort, all of which can make daily life challenging. For millions of women, acetaminophen (Tylenol) has been the trusted drug of choice, recommended by doctors and backed by decades of research showing it’s safe when used as directed.

Now, with conflicting information swirling in Washington and the media, many pregnant women are now asking: What should I do when I’m in pain?

Echoing Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr.’s concerns about acetaminophen and autism in children, President Donald Trump recently encouraged women to avoid the drug while pregnant and “tough it out.”

Declaring that “taking Tylenol is not good,” the president announced that the new-look Food and Drug Administration will be “strongly recommending that women limit Tylenol use during pregnancy unless medically necessary.”

As a pharmacologist and toxicologist who has spent years studying drug safety, here are some straightforward facts to help make informed decisions for yourself and your baby.

In terms of drugs, acetaminophen remains your safest bet. Every major medical organization, from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists to the American Academy of Pediatrics, continues to recommend it as the preferred pain reliever during pregnancy. This isn’t a casual recommendation. It’s based on extensive research spanning decades and millions of pregnant women.

Ibuprofen and other “non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs” are off the table unless directed by your physician. According to the FDA, medications such as Advil and Aleve can cause a very rare, but serious, kidney toxicity that results in less amniotic fluid surrounding the baby if taken around 20 weeks of pregnancy and after.

“Toughing it out” isn’t always wise. Severe or chronic pain during pregnancy can lead to stress, sleep problems, and other complications that aren’t good for you or your baby. Managing pain appropriately is part of good prenatal care.

If you choose to use acetaminophen, here’s how to do it right:

First, stick to the lowest effective dose. Take only what you need to manage your pain. If one tablet helps, don’t take two.

Second, use it for the shortest time possible. This isn’t a daily vitamin. Stop when you feel better.

Third, don’t exceed 3,000 mg total per day unless directed by your physician.

Fourth, read all of the labels of the different products you take. Acetaminophen is found in a lot of popular over-the-counter medicines, including cold and flu remedies. Don’t accidentally double up your acetaminophen doses.

Medication isn’t your only option. Consider these safe alternatives that can help manage pregnancy discomfort:

Heat and cold therapy can work wonders for sore muscles and headaches. A warm bath or heating pad on your back, or a cold compress on your forehead, might provide the relief you need.

Gentle exercise and stretching can help with back pain and general achiness. Prenatal yoga, swimming, or even regular walks can make a significant difference.

Good sleep support matters more than you might think. A pregnancy pillow that supports your changing body can prevent a lot of pain from developing in the first place.

Stress management techniques like deep breathing, meditation, or massage can help with tension headaches and muscle pain.

Here’s what I hope every pregnant woman understands: When you see conflicting information about medications, the most important thing you can do is talk to your health care provider.

If, for example, you feel the need to take acetaminophen regularly for chronic pain, discuss this with your doctor or qualified midwife. They know your specific situation, your medical history, and can help you weigh the real risks and benefits.

Don’t make medication decisions based on headlines or social media posts. Rely on your health care team and established medical and scientific organizations that base their recommendations on only the most rigorous and credible scientific research.

Finally, while I highly doubt there is a causal link between Tylenol and autism, understand that no doctor is in a position to eliminate every theoretical risk. It’s about making the safest choice possible. For most women in need of real relief from occasional aches and pains during pregnancy, that choice remains acetaminophen, used thoughtfully and as directed.

Trust the science, trust your health care provider, and trust yourself to make the best decision for your family.

Lyle D. Burgoon, Ph.D., ATS is a pharmacologist, toxicologist and president and CEO of the Center for Truth in Science and Science for Healthy Families, both of which provide science-based health information to help parents make informed decisions. This column was distributed by Tribune News Service.

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Benny Safdie wants to challenge our expectations of the traditional sports movie. His first solo directorial outing without his brother Josh, “The Smashing Machine” is a biopic that zigs when you expect it to zag, parries rather than jabs, feints before delivering a punch.

“The Smashing Machine,” about mixed martial arts fighter and UFC heavyweight champion Mark Kerr, played by an almost unrecognizable Dwayne Johnson, takes a shape and form that is not what we’re used to in traditional sports movies. It’s more like a jazzy improvisation on the formula that references familiar rhythms but marches entirely to the beat of its own drum, and it’s the kind of film that forces the audience to wrestle with what, exactly, we want to see from these kinds of narratives — tragedy or triumph? Safdie offers both, and neither.

Based on a 2002 documentary directed by John Hyams, Safdie’s “The Smashing Machine,” which he produced, wrote, directed and edited, mimics the documentary-style approach. Working with cinematographer Maceo Bishop, Safdie utilizes a variety of film formats from VHS to 16mm to 35mm to capture Kerr’s roller-coaster ride through the nascent world of professional MMA fighting in the late 1990s.

Mark’s soft-spoken interviews layered over his bloody brutality in the ring during a fighting tournament in Brazil is our introduction to the study in contrasts that animates the film. This is a portrait of a mostly good-natured gentle giant whose job is inflicting — and enduring — violence, but who speaks sweetly to older women in the doctor’s office, and to the medical receptionists who help to fill his prescriptions for increasingly potent pain medication. Mark can headbutt an opponent without a second thought but cannot easily communicate his needs to his spitfire girlfriend Dawn (Emily Blunt) for fear of hurting her feelings.

Mark and Dawn are opposites trying to make it work: she’s a bit of a wanton thrill-seeker who wants to feel like the most important person in his life, he’s a perfectionist and a bit of a fuddy-duddy. “My tummy,” he whines about a carnival ride. The savagery of Mark’s professional fights pale in comparison to the emotional warfare he and Dawn inflict on each other, often in hushed tones. When their resentments crescendo into an operatic climax, it’s far more harrowing anything he experiences in the octagon.

Blunt and Johnson first co-starred in “Jungle Cruise,” and are close friends, and the two share a palpable chemistry in moments of both love and conflict. But there’s never any question that Mark and Dawn are a match made in hell, their dysfunction doing battle with their clear affection for each other.

Mark thrives in the regulated space of training and fighting, following the rules even when others break them. Johnson’s performance isn’t just transformed in voice and manner, but is one of carefully calibrated control, as if Mark’s making himself smaller, quieter to appear less intimidating. Moments of explosive violence and emotion do erupt out of him, especially when he’s struggling with his opiate addiction.

Mark overcomes that particular hurdle rather quickly, thanks in part to the one healthy relationship he has, with friend, trainer and competitor Mark Coleman (played by pro MMA fighter Ryan Bader). There’s never an ounce of bad blood between the genial Kerr and Coleman, even when you’re expecting rivalry, as the two prepare to potentially face-off in the PRIDE Fighting Championships 2000 Grand Prix in Japan. Instead, the friends are simply happy to be together. Bader, while a bit limited in his range, is nevertheless a fascinating screen presence as the steady Coleman, capably undertaking a meaty role and making the character interesting enough that you wish there were far more of him in the picture.

Safdie offers up an unusual and appealingly weird sports biopic that is tastefully crafted and impeccably directed, anchored by Johnson and Blunt’s powerhouse performances, Bishop’s textured cinematography and Nala Sinephor’s loose, abstract, jazz-inspired score that echoes the film’s themes, juxtaposing hard and soft. But Safdie’s script is at times formless and somewhat baggy. It’s a bit hard to track the emotional journey when the beats feel like they hit in the wrong place and time.

It becomes clear that Safdie is intentionally denying a big, flashy “win the game” kind of film, offering instead a cerebral examination of the quotidian, workmanlike drudgery of being a professional athlete who never became a superstar household name, still shouldering the work, the struggle, the bad days, quibbling over contracts and rules, taking every hit without complaint. “A day without pain is like a day without sunshine,” Mark quips, and if there are any major revelations to take away from “The Smashing Machine,” it’s that Mark Kerr seems like a truly nice guy, one who had all the guts, and not enough glory.

‘The Smashing Machine’

3 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: R (for language and some drug abuse)

Running time: 2:03

How to watch: In theaters on Friday, Oct. 3.

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The sheer volume of headlines tells its own tale. Russian drones over Poland and Romania. Russian fighter jets in Estonian airspace. Russian aircraft buzzing a German naval frigate in the Baltic Sea. Unidentified drones over Copenhagen and Oslo airports. Most recently, in the early hours one day last week, further drones appearing at other Danish airports.

In just over a fortnight, European states have reported a striking spate of incursions into their airspace. Russia has repeatedly denied responsibility, and questions remain over individual events: so far, Denmark has said only that a “professional actor” was at work in the airport incidents and that it can’t rule out Russia. But overall, there is a pattern that fits clearly into Moscow’s longer record of provocations and often implausible deniability – and which amounts to a notable escalation.

Such operations may distract from Russia’s slow progress on the battlefield in Ukraine. More obviously, they look like a test of both military responses and political will. On the first count, there is work to be done, judging from the reaction to the 19 drones in Polish airspace. On the second, Russia is testing whether Europe will hold its nerve in supporting Ukraine – and perhaps others in the future – when faced with nuisance or worse. Drones come cheap, yet forced Denmark to suspend flights from its largest airport for four hours, and Poland to spend millions scrambling jets.

Most obviously, these incursions are also testing U.S. intentions. Donald Trump suggested last week that Ukraine could win back its lost territory and that NATO countries should shoot down Russian aircraft entering their airspace. Yet that looks less like a reorientation of U.S. policy than, in the words of one NATO official, “his hot take of the hour.” It is surely no coincidence that these events followed the red-carpet welcome that Mr Trump awarded Vladimir Putin in Alaska. An emboldened Russia is confident that the U.S. intends to further disengage from European security, rather than to bolster support.

NATO members met last week at Estonia’s request, but there are marked differences between their positions as well as shared alarm. Though shooting down a Russian plane would not be unprecedented – Turkey did it in 2015 – there is a division between those who believe it would deter Moscow and those who fear it would escalate the dangers.

These incursions should not treated as a narrowly military affair, but seen within Russia’s multi-domain strategy. The broader picture of security risks covers civilian infrastructure, too, and may involve non-state agents either enlisted or enabled by Moscow. Incidents may be less attention-grabbing yet potentially more significant.

The past year has seen repeated damage to undersea communications cables in the Baltic Sea, with suspicion of Moscow’s involvement. Norway’s spy chief said recently that Russian hackers had taken control of a dam this spring, releasing water for four hours before their interference was noticed. Ken McCallum, head of MI5, warned last October that Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU, was “on a sustained mission to generate mayhem on British and European streets: we’ve seen arson, sabotage and more”. He stressed that businesses, as well as the state, must address their vulnerabilities. The difficulties of establishing a unified response to the last fortnight’s events are a reminder that a comprehensive and coherent response to these broader issues will be essential, and even more challenging.

— The Guardian

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