"I have been around a lot of great players. He is as confident in his belief in himself as ... it's Kobe-like. And I was around Kobe," the All-Star power forward relayed. "He's not scared of any moment, and he wants those moments. His belief and confidence in who he is as a player is the highest I've ever seen or been around, for anybody."

Julius Randle knows a thing or two about having a supremely confident teammate, and he put Anthony Edwards on that level. Edwards's postseason play has raised eyebrows around the NBA this season as he has taken his game to another level.

Minnesota Timberwolves star forward, Julius Randle shares how superstar guard Anthony Edwards is like Kobe Bryant.

And with that, the Warriors' season has ended. Simply put, Golden State could not recover after losing superstar Stephen Curry to a left hamstring strain in Game 1 of this series. Golden State finished Game 1 without Curry with a 99-88 win but proceeded to lose four straight by a combined 47 points.

Fast forward a few months, and Minnesota is headed back to the conference finals in no small part because of Randle, who continued the best stretch of basketball of his postseason -- and probably professional -- life with 27 points on 12-of-17 shooting on Wednesday as the Wolves eliminated the Warriors in five games.

Timberwolves' power forward has finally emerged as a playoff force to complement superstar Anthony Edwards. 'I had a great mentor in Kobe Bryant,' he says.

The Minnesota Timberwolves have made it far this season, and that continues to be because of Anthony Edwards and his growth as a player and leader.

Aaron Gordon might be the gold standard of the "struggling leading man to role player" transformation right now. After never finding his place in Orlando, he has become Mr. Nugget in Denver by giving up the on-ball portion of his offensive game,