A year ago, Anthony Edwards was asked to sum up what happened in Minnesota’s blowout Game 5 loss at the hands of Dallas to end the Timberwolves’ season in the Western Conference Finals.

“Luka,” Edwards said, referencing Luka Doncic by first name only. “It’s that simple. He hit like three shots from the logo, pretty much. Nothing we can do about it.”

Indeed, Doncic splashed a number of kill shots early that evening at Target Center that sapped the life from Minnesota and effectively ended the series on the spot. There is a powerless feeling that overcomes a team when an opposing player hits a series of difficult shots for which there is no defense.

It breaks your spirit.

Fast forward to the 2025 postseason, and the Timberwolves are back in the Western Conference Finals – the first team to repeat the achievement in consecutive seasons since 2019 – in large part because the soul crushee has become the crusher.

Minnesota won its first two playoff series each in five games, setting itself up well in terms of maximum rest and minimum wear and tear ahead of Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, which will be at 7:30 p.m. Central on Tuesday in either Denver or Oklahoma City.

After Minnesota dispatched the Lakers in Game 5, the superstar guard strutted through the hallways of Crypto.com Arena shouting “Ant-Man, Batman, Superman, Wolves in five.”

Fitting. As Minnesota’s sailing has only been this smooth in these playoffs because, whenever Minnesota has found itself in danger, Edwards has put on his cape and come to the rescue with heroic 3-balls.

Which, yeah, is otherwise known as “hero ball.” But that word often carries a negative connotation. For Minnesota this postseason, perhaps “savior ball” is a better term.

Trailing by 10 in the fourth quarter of Game 4 against the Lakers, Minnesota was staring down a 2-2 tie with the series heading back to Los Angeles for Game 5.

Edwards had other ideas.

On the first possession of the final frame, Edwards held the ball 28 feet away from the hoop with Doncic, of all people, directly in front of him. After a brief hold, the guard decided to rise and fire.

Splash.

Minnesota was now within seven, but only briefly. Austin Reaves answered with a triple of his own on the other end of the floor. No matter, Edwards came down on Minnesota’s ensuing possession, came off a high screen and again shot over the outstretched arm of Doncic.

Same result.

Minnesota was still down seven with fewer than eight minutes to play when Edwards sized up Reaves on the perimeter. He took a hard step at the Lakers guard before executing his go-to, step-back jumper. Reaves delivered a commendable contest.

It didn’t matter. The Wolves were within four, and Target Center was rocking. Minnesota went on to win the game to effectively end the series.

Fast forward to Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals, which was tied 1-1, and a Steph Curry-less Golden State team was fighting tooth and nail to claim a contest to re-claim the series lead and buy time for Curry to get healthy.

Golden State led by six with 10 minutes to play, and Minnesota couldn’t buy a bucket for much of the night. This specific possession was going no better for the Wolves. Edwards came off the screen with the shot clock dwindling. Warriors guard Brandin Podziemski switched onto Edwards and removed his air space to force Edwards to take a prayer with the shot clock set to expire.

He drained it.

That shot gave Minnesota life. Three minutes later, the Wolves were down one. Edwards caught the ball at the top of the floor with Gary Payton II guarding him closely. Yet Edwards didn’t hesitate for a moment, immediately rising for the shot when he touched the ball.

Good again, this time giving Minnesota a lead it never relinquished.

Credit to the Warriors, they came back out in Game 4 and gave it another honest effort in the first half in an attempt to stay in the series. Again, Golden State out-played Minnesota for much of the first half, and had a five-point lead to show for it with seconds remaining in the second quarter.

Edwards dribbled down the floor, crossed over Payton and shot from roughly 30 feet over the arms of Payton and Draymond Green as the buzzer sounded.

You already know how this story ends.

The shot brought Minnesota within two at the half, and the Wolves ran the Warriors out of the building coming out of the break.

Edwards has always sensed the moments when his team has needed a boost. This year, he’s armed with a lethal 3-point shot capable of delivering whenever called upon.

“We’re lucky with him,” Wolves coach Chris Finch admitted.

Because there simply aren’t many players capable of hitting the shots Edwards takes. Per NBA.Com data, players across the league are shoot 25% on “closely” guarded 3-point attempts in these playoffs, where a defender is within two to four feet of the shot taker.

Edwards is 8 for 18 – 44.4% – on such attempts. The rest of the Wolves are 0 for 13. The 23-year-old is Minnesota’s only real option when it’s in a tight spot and needs points in bunches to create the mere chance for a comeback.

And Superman is hopping into the booth to answer the call every time the phone rings in these playoffs with zero hesitation.

“Just trusting the work, man. I trust myself. And I tell (my teammates): ‘It’s time. It’s time for that,’” Edwards said. “So, they already know. They know what it is. When I get in that mode, get me the ball. Try to get me open. I tell them all the time, ‘You set a good screen, we gonna score. I promise you.’”

Rudy Gobert was sitting next to Edwards at the press conference table when the topic was discussed, and he noted it’s a balance in his mind. He’s a believer in team basketball, with the right play being the pass to the open man. There have been times in the past where Edwards’ forced shot attempts have been a cause for frustration for Finch and fellow teammates.

But they’ve all appreciated how the young guard has been more deliberate about picking his spots of when to swing for the fences this season.

And when he’s squaring it up and tallying far more home runs than strikeouts, there is little about which to complain.

“He’s such a unique scorer and high confidence player,” Gobert said. “Sometimes, you’ve just got to let him do his thing. Sometimes, he’s going to make it, miss it, but you’ve got to let him do his thing.”

Especially in the playoffs, where defenses are all carrying out intensely-detailed gameplans with maximum effort. There will be many possessions where, try as you might, you aren’t going to generate anything resembling a good shot.

It’s a near requirement to have a cheat code player who’s always holding a get out of jail free card in his back pocket to win your team the games in which the chips seem to stacked heavily against you.

“Everybody needs one of those guys, or multiples of those guys,” Finch said. “This time of the year, sometimes it just comes down to that.”

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Why do St. Paul and Minneapolis maintain separate chambers of commerce, given that both cater to members beyond the immediate borders of their cities?

Business leaders raised questions of that sort in the 1880s, but efforts to merge the two dues-based associations resulted in little more than some spirited debate. As recently as 2010, discussions about a possible merger again fell apart amid concerns that Minneapolis, Bloomington and other west metro needs and interests will overshadow east metro priorities, and that their regional cultures are too distinct.

Since then, long-standing employers like TKDA, Cray Inc. and Wold Architects have left downtown St. Paul for Bloomington and Minneapolis, leaving the capital city scrambling to fill empty commercial spaces in an increasingly challenged downtown.

Nevertheless, with money and membership stretched thin in the digital era for geographically-based chambers everywhere, discussions about a possible merger between the St. Paul Area Chamber and the Minneapolis Regional Chamber have resurfaced, this time with more organizational legs.

Pros and cons

In February, the two chambers assembled a 22-member joint partnership committee to begin analyzing the pros and cons of a full or partial merger, bringing together representatives of what’s been described as a wide variety of employers from both sides of the river.

“A united voice is critical,” said Jeff DeYoung, a recently retired managing partner from the Baker Tilly accounting firm who chairs the St. Paul Area Chamber board. “Many employers voice concern about safety in both cities. Neither city is growing or has the level of commerce to the degree that it should.

“The prices that they’re selling (downtown commercial) buildings for, we are going to have a really sobering valuation change in both cities, and that’s going to have a tax impact on everyday homeowners,” DeYoung continued. “A lot of the buildings are going back to the lenders. It’s going to come to a head here pretty quickly.”

Opposition and a federal investigation

John Regal, a former board chair with the St. Paul Area Chamber, said he’s adamantly opposed to a merger. In addition to his work with the chamber, Regal is a former assistant risk manager for the city of St. Paul and the current president and chief executive officer of Sargasso Mutual Insurance Co.

His experiences in all three areas tell him that a chamber merger would leave St. Paul and its priorities further in the west metro’s shadow. Small businesses in particular could be left behind.

“Who is responsible for advocating for business and commerce in this town? … There’s different priorities coming out of City Hall, and there needs to be an organization that represents the interests of business in advocating for a strong commercial and light industrial tax base,” Regal said. “That advocacy doesn’t seem to be very strong right now. It seems to be that the St. Paul Port Authority is really the only entity doing that, and they’re tasked with dealing with distressed properties and the river.”

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating financial turmoil within the Minneapolis chamber, according to multiple sources close to the chambers.

Last summer, the Minneapolis chamber’s executive director Jonathan Weinhagen abruptly resigned following an internal investigation that uncovered a hefty budget shortfall. Filed last November, the 990 tax forms available through Guidestar.org showed a net revenue loss for the Minneapolis chamber of nearly $300,000 in 2023.

“I do think it was a catalyst,” said Mike Logan, interim president and executive director of the Minneapolis chamber, who grew up in St. Paul. “I do think his departure — and his abrupt departure — led to a moment of reflection.”

A 22-member committee

Logan and B Kyle, president and chief executive officer of the St. Paul Area Chamber, have been coy about revealing the full membership of their 22-member joint committee, but they’ve said large players and smaller companies both have roles in analyzing what unique aspects of each chamber deserve to be celebrated and maintained distinctly, and what part of their mission might benefit from combined resources.

Co-chaired by DeYoung, the joint partnership committee meets monthly to discuss the work of four subcommittees focused on governance, communications, operations and strategy. The goal is to have a recommendation about a possible merger to the full boards of each chamber ready by the end of the year, for potential rollout in 2026.

“We’ve not talked structure at all. The people who are saying ‘no’ think we’re just going to drop everything and form one chamber,” DeYoung said. “We might have Mike and B just pick two or three issues to work together on. A lot of times, people want to pick structure before strategy, and that never works.”

“We are anticipating that whatever we come up with, there will be some people who say ‘we don’t like that.’ We’re going to lose some memberships along the way, but we’re going to lose some memberships if we don’t do anything, too,” DeYoung added. “We’ll hopefully get those people back.”

Combining the two chambers is now officially on the table, but not necessarily guaranteed. The result could be that the chambers maintain separate physical hubs in each city under one umbrella. Then again, the result could be a lot of things.

“This is the first time we’re taking a very deep dive to do a cost-benefit analysis,” said Kyle, in a recent interview. “That plan could be anything from ‘we’re remaining good friends across the river’ to ‘we’re merging.’”

Chambers elsewhere have lost members in the digital era as employers question the value of paying dues to a local association when so many of their clients and partners are online or otherwise located outside of their immediate geographic area. The pandemic exacerbated membership declines nationally, inspiring more chambers to merge. The committee, said Logan, is looking at examples of mergers around the country, from purported success stories to attempted mergers that failed.

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‘Additive, rather than competitive’

Still, Kyle said St. Paul memberships have held fairly steady over the years, and the goal isn’t so much to stem potential membership losses as to be “additive, rather than competitive” across chambers.

That means finding ways to leverage a more regional focus, such as partnering on regional conferences and conventions, workforce development, networking and leadership training, and helping member benefits go farther. Both chambers engage in — and could better combine resources around — advocacy and legislative lobbying, which is something many other economic-development organizations don’t do.

That regionalism is already a reality for many members, as “40% of our members already have a business headquarters address outside of St. Paul,” Kyle said.

“This is not about scarcity,” Logan said. “This is about growing beyond one-plus-one into three. Efficiencies are part of it, but those will probably be marginal efficiencies. … If anything, it’s an amplification. Let’s say I’m a small marketing agency and I love being part of both chambers. I might love even more being part of one.”

That logic works for Joe Thornton, a longtime public relations specialist with AIMCLEAR based out of downtown St. Paul, who noted that the St. Paul Downtown Alliance — a partnership between private employers and City Hall — already maintains a business improvement district with street ambassadors and other downtown programming.

“St. Paul businesses are being served effectively in a somewhat similar manner by the Downtown Alliance,” Thornton pointed out. “It seems there is a lot of overlap between the St. Paul Chamber, Downtown Alliance and (tourism bureau) Visit St. Paul. A Twin Cities Chamber could elevate businesses metro-wide, while the Downtown Alliance could really focus on elevating business opportunities for St. Paul and Visit St. Paul serves destination marketing purposes.”

Lea Hargett, past chair of the St. Paul Area Chamber, prefers to see a joint venture rather than a full-out merger, allowing each chamber to maintain their autonomy while combining efforts around public policy advocacy, legislation and networking events. A membership survey last year showed that many members expressed concern about rising costs and the need for more support.

While some chamber members may continue to question whether west metro interests will overshadow east metro priorities in a merged chamber, Kyle noted St. Paul has some leverage in key areas.

St. Paul has stronger finances

The St. Paul Area Chamber has established relatively strong financial footing for itself through its WorkStream consulting practice, which offers staffing and services for 19 affiliate chambers and nonprofit organizations, from the Oakdale Chamber to the St. Paul Parks Conservancy and the Hmong Chamber of Commerce.

The St. Paul chamber lost about $232,000 in 2023, according to its 990 tax form, but that had to do with some long-anticipated expenses coming to a head in a single year, DeYoung said, and it was the first loss in over a decade.

Overall, “the net cash position has held strong,” said DeYoung, a certified public accountant by trade. “We’re making money this year. We made money the year before. The St. Paul chamber is rock solid financially. … B runs a very tight ship.”

Minneapolis has had a tougher time of it financially, as revealed after Weinhagen’s departure, even after absorbing the Plymouth-based TwinWest Chamber of Commerce in 2020 and the Bloomington chamber years prior to that.

“With the dire circumstances Minneapolis is facing, especially with a federal investigation going on, (a merger) makes zero sense,” Regal said. “At a minimum, you’d wait until the dust settles on the investigation, and then go back and answer the question: What’s in it for St. Paul? It just looks like a bail-out for Minneapolis.”

Despite its documented financial challenges, Logan said the Minneapolis chamber had renegotiated agreements with key external vendors and should be profitable by the end of the year. Some of its debt is internal — money the organization owes to itself for services rendered, as opposed to bills owed to a bank. Its financial situation would have to be sorted out before a merger moves forward, not after, he said.

“Our debt and our challenges are our debt and our challenges,” Logan said. “We’re not going to saddle St. Paul with any of it.”

Both Kyle and Logan acknowledged that some members have expressed fear about a loss of local identity following a merger. “You can’t create something new and give up what has gotten you here,” Kyle said. “The question we have to ask our members is, what do we treasure that we want to retain, and what are we hoping for that we want to achieve?”

The chambers

Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce: There are 700 dues-paying members. Fifteen employees, including transportation management affiliate Move Minneapolis and RealTime Talent workforce research. It has a $4 million annual budget.

St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce: There are 900 dues-paying members, or 1,600 members after including 19 affiliate chambers staffed through WorkStream consulting. There are 26 employees. Its annual budget is $3.9 million.

Source: 990 tax forms for 2023, available on Guidestar.org; stpaulchamber.com; mplschamber.com.

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TransAxle, a New Jersey-based remanufacturer of rebuilt hydraulics, drivetrain components and truck parts, will close all of its locations, laying off more than 200 workers nationwide, including six in St. Paul, according to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.

The company, which was founded in 1979, maintains a location in St. Paul that employs a shop manager, mechanic, machinist and team leaders. All six workers will be let go.

In a letter to DEED’s rapid response team, company officer Richard Malagodi said TransAxle attempted to put itself up for sale “for some time” without success, and will instead lay off 80 workers at a dozen locations, most of them on the East Coast, between July 15 and July 29. Another 129 workers will be terminated from its four New Jersey sites in August.

An effort to reach a TransAxle spokesperson for comment on Friday was not immediately successful.

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LONDON, Ky. (AP) — Storm systems sweeping across parts of the U.S. Midwest and South have left at least 23 people dead, many of them in Kentucky, where what appeared to be a devastating tornado pulverized homes and flipped over a car on an interstate.

In Kentucky, some 14 people were killed by severe weather, and the death toll is likely to rise, according to Gov. Andy Beshear. Local authorities in Laurel County, in the state’s southeast, said nine people were killed after a tornado touched down.

Kayla Patterson, her husband and their five children huddled in a tub in their basement in London, the county seat, as the tornado raged around them.

“You could literally hear just things ripping in the distance, glass shattering everywhere, just roaring like a freight train,” she recalled Saturday. “It was terrible.”

The family eventually emerged to the sounds of sirens and panicked neighbors. While the family’s own home was spared, others right behind it were demolished, Patterson said as the sound of power tools buzzed in the background. The neighborhood was dotted with piles of lumber, metal sheeting, insulation and stray belongings — a suitcase, a sofa, some six-packs of paper towels.

Rescuers were searching for survivors all night and into the morning, the sheriff’s office said. An emergency shelter was set up at a local high school and donations of food and other necessities were arriving.

The National Weather Service hadn’t yet confirmed that a tornado struck, but meteorologist Philomon Geertson said it was likely. It ripped across the largely rural area and extended to the London Corbin Airport shortly before midnight.

Resident Chris Cromer said he got the first of two tornado alerts on his phone around 11:30 p.m. or so, about a half-hour before the tornado struck. He and his wife grabbed their dog, jumped in their car and scrambled to the crawlspace at a relative’s nearby home because the couple’s own crawlspace is small.

“We could hear and feel the vibration of the tornado coming through,” said Cromer, 46. A piece of his roof was ripped off, and windows were broken, but homes around his were destroyed.

“It’s one of those things that you see on the news in other areas, and you feel bad for people — then, when it happens, it’s just surreal,” he said. “It makes you be thankful to be alive, really.”

The storm was the latest severe weather to cause deaths and widespread damage in Kentucky. Two months ago, at least 24 people died in a round of storms that swelled creeks and submerged roads. Hundreds of people were rescued, and most of the deaths were caused by vehicles getting stuck in high water.

A storm in late 2021 spawned tornadoes that killed 81 people and leveled portions of towns in western Kentucky. The following summer, historic floodwaters inundated parts of eastern Kentucky, leaving dozens more dead.

Missouri pounded by storms, with deaths confirmed in St. Louis

About 1,200 tornadoes strike the U.S. annually, and they have been reported in all 50 states over the years. Researchers found in 2018 that deadly tornadoes were happening less frequently in the traditional “Tornado Alley” of Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas and more frequently in parts of the more densely populated and tree-filled mid-South area.

The latest Kentucky storms were part of a weather system Friday that killed seven in Missouri and two in northern Virginia, authorities said. The system also spawned tornadoes in Wisconsin, brought a punishing heat wave to Texas and temporarily enveloped parts of Illinois — including Chicago — in a pall of dust on an otherwise sunny day.

“Well that was…..something,” the weather service’s Chicago office wrote on X after issuing its first-ever dust storm warning for the city. Thunderstorms in central Illinois had pushed strong winds over dry, dusty farmland and northward into the Chicago area, the weather agency said.

In Missouri, St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer said five people died, 38 were injured and more than 5,000 homes were affected in her city.

“The devastation is truly heartbreaking,” she said at a news conference Saturday. An overnight curfew was to continue in the most damaged neighborhoods.

Weather service radar indicated a likely tornado touched down between 2:30 p.m. and 2:50 p.m. in Clayton, Missouri, in the St. Louis area. The apparent tornado touched down in the area of Forest Park, home to the St. Louis Zoo and the site of the 1904 World’s Fair and Olympic Games the same year.

Three people needed aid after part of the Centennial Christian Church crumbled, St. Louis Fire Battalion Chief William Pollihan told The Associated Press.

Stacy Clark said his mother-in-law, Patricia Penelton, died in the church. He described her as a very active church volunteer who had many roles, including being part of the choir.

John Randle said he and his girlfriend were at the St. Louis Art Museum during the storm and were hustled into the basement with about 150 other people.

“You could see the doors flying open, tree branches flying by and people running,” said Randle, 19.

At the Saint Louis Zoo, falling trees severely damaged the roof of a butterfly facility. Staffers quickly corralled most of the butterflies, the zoo said on social media, and a conservatory in suburban Chesterfield is caring for the displaced creatures.

A tornado struck in Scott County, about 130 miles (209 kilometers) south of St. Louis, killing two people, injuring several others and destroying multiple homes, Sheriff Derick Wheetley wrote on social media.

Forecasters say severe weather could batter southern Plains
The weather service said Saturday that severe thunderstorms, large hail and “a couple of tornadoes” were expected across the southern Plains, with especially high risk in north Texas.

___

Contributing were Associated Press writers Jennifer Peltz in New York, Sudhin Thanawala in Atlanta, Mike Catalini in Morrisville, Pennsylvania, and Juan Lozano in Houston.

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