Mike Conley's advice for Anthony Edwards, opinions on Rudy Gobert critics

Conley and the Timberwolves open training camp on Tuesday, Oct. 1.

Jan 3, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5), center Rudy Gobert (27) and guard Mike Conley (10) talk during a free throw against the New Orleans Pelicans in the first half at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images / Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

Mike Conley has sage advice to help Anthony Edwards take the next step. He also has opinions about why Rudy Gobert gets so much flack from his peers. Check out what the Timberwolves veteran point guard said Tuesday during an hourlong interview with KFAN-FM 100.3's Dan Barreiro.

Advice for Anthony Edwards

"I tell him ever day, man, 'I need you to be the best version of yourself.' Whether that means going to bed an hour earlier or eating a little bit differently for once. Not the chicken nuggets today or whatever it is, he's still young enough, he can do it. But whatever can get you just a little bit more of an edge," Conley said.

"Can you you imagine, anybody, all of us, if we just gave 110% percent of every ounce of every part of our day was geared towards, 'how can i be better at basketball?' Like, can I go to bed at a certain hour, can I eat the right things, can I stop doing this, stop doing that and just focus on... can you imagine how much better like 1-2 %, 5%, it could add up. That's stuff that we talk about all the time and he's pushing other players on our team to be like that, so that's a good thing."

We're no longer a hidden gem. People know who we are, people know how we play and they've been spending this summer trying to figure it out. Like, how can we attack this team, figure them out? It's going to be a different year and we're going to be ready for it.

Why Rudy Gobert takes so much criticism

"He's taken a lot of heat just for a lot of different things," said Conley. "A lot of people attack him for different reasons and different parts of a season or different things."

Of late, Gobert has been called the worst player of all time by Shaquille O'Neal while others, including Charles Barkley, Draymond Green, Dereck Lively, Dwight Howard and Chauncey Billups have taken opportunities to knock Gobert down when provided public platforms.

Barreiro opined that the Gobert criticism might have something to do with him being from France.

"Yeah, yeah," Conley seemed to agree. "It is unusual and it's getting old in a sense. We can just move on. We get everybody's strengths and weaknesses are different. We can move on to somebody else."

Money is another big part of it, Conley believes.

"When you start making a little bit more money, your salary changes — I went from making nothing to making a lot in a year and all of a sudden I was everybody's favorite underdog player to 'oh my God he's the worst.'" Conley said. "I think he's just one of them guys. He's making a bunch of money — there's a ton of guys like that in the league — and everybody's there to criticize why they shouldn't have that, and I think that's a big part of that."