Timberwolves return to Western Conference finals, driven as ever to win for revered Conley

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — When the Minnesota Timberwolves were ousted from the NBA playoffs last year, an exhausted Anthony Edwards made a point to promise a return to the Western Conference finals — particularly to Mike Conley.

Nobody with the Wolves is more revered than Conley, and there isn't anyone they want more to win for this time than their 37-year-old point guard.

“Mike is the best vet you can ask for, man,” Edwards said. “Plays through everything, never complains, always knows the right thing to say, always knows where to be. Great guy to look up to, for sure.”

Edwards hadn't yet turned 6 when Conley was drafted with the fourth overall pick by the Memphis Grizzlies in 2007, in succession behind Kevin Durant and Al Horford. That trio now ranks third, ninth and eighth among active players in career regular-season minutes. But while Conley has logged 103 games and counting in the playoffs, he's still seeking what Durant and Horford have: a ring. He has never reached the NBA Finals.

While this is Conley's second consecutive conference finals appearance, it's only the third time he's been this far in 18 seasons, including a stint with the Utah Jazz. The Grizzlies were swept in 2013 by San Antonio. They slammed into the start of Golden State's dynasty in the second round in 2015.

After the Wolves eliminated the Warriors on Wednesday, Conley was asked in his postgame interview to reflect back to that series 10 years ago. He said he would've been surprised then, but proud, to find out he'd still be playing in 2025 let alone a legitimate chance to win that first championship.

“Just happy to be back in this situation with these guys," Conley said. "Wouldn’t want to be with anybody else.”

Even at the beginning of this season, he found it difficult to see playing deep into the spring. Injuries hampered him early, particularly trouble with his wrist, while the Wolves went through growing pains while integrating Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo into the rotation after trading cornerstone Karl-Anthony Towns right before training camp.

Though he appeared in 71 games, Conley averaged career lows with 24.7 minutes and 8.2 points. Down the stretch of the regular season, coach Chris Finch began using DiVincenzo in his closing lineup instead of Conley, a demotion of sorts driven by a desire for more burst that the ever-selfless Conley predictably took in stride.

“It’s a conversation we’ve had before the playoffs start every year, and our most experienced guy Mike Conley just stands up and says, ‘Hey, man, whatever it takes. That’s what we’re going to do,'" Finch said.

In the first round, Conley was at a size and strength disadvantage against every perimeter player the Los Angeles Lakers had on the court, and that series was a struggle on both ends of the floor. He totaled just 28 points on 10-for-28 shooting over those five games. But there's never a moment for Minnesota when Conley doesn't provide value.

“Even if he’s not making shots, he’s affecting the game in so many different ways,” DiVincenzo said. “Having that maturity around us settles everybody else around him and allows us to be ourselves.”

Against the Warriors, the Wolves found a better defensive matchup for him with sharpshooter Buddy Hield. After scoring 33 points in Golden State's win over Houston in Game 7 and 24 points in the series opener in Minnesota to help offset the loss of Stephen Curry, Hield's scoring total decreased in every game thereafter.

The Warriors were outscored by 38 points while Hield was on the floor over the last four games, due largely to Conley chasing him all over the court, and he shot just 2 for 9 from the field in the elimination game. Conley also hit four 3-pointers and had 16 points for his high this postseason.

The praise for Conley, naturally, was at a fever pitch afterward.

“It’s not about me at all,” Conley said. "I want them to succeed. I want them to make a lot of money. I want them to achieve all their goals and win championships, and that’s it. They realize that’s who I am.”

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Minnesota Timberwolves guard Mike Conley smiles after making a 3-point basket during the first half of Game 3 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series against the Golden State Warriors, Saturday, May 10, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Mike Conley, right, tries to knock the ball away from Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga during the second half of Game 3 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series Saturday, May 10, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) celebrates with guard Mike Conley (10) during the second half of Game 4 in the Western Conference semifinals of the NBA basketball playoffs against the Golden State Warriors, Monday, May 12, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Mike Conley (10) and Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) celebrate after Conley scores during the first half of Game 5 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series against the Golden State Warriors, Wednesday, May 14, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Mike Conley reacts after Golden State Warriors guard Buddy Hield scores during the first half of Game 5 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series, Wednesday, May 14, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

LONDON (AP) — Political opposition leaders in the United Kingdom have called for a human rights activist to be stripped of his citizenship over past social media posts allegedly containing violent and antisemitic language within days of the dual national returning to Britain after years in Egyptian prisons.

The leaders of the Conservative and Reform parties also demanded the deportation of Alaa Abd el-Fattah following the discovery of tweets from more than a decade ago in which he allegedly endorsed killing “Zionists’’ and police.

“The comments he made on social media about violence against Jews, white people and the police, amongst others, are disgusting and abhorrent,” Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch wrote Monday in the Daily Mail newspaper.

Abd el-Fattah on Monday apologized for the tweets while saying some had been taken out of context and misrepresented.

The activist has spent years in Egyptian prisons, most recently for allegedly spreading fake news about the government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. He returned to the U.K. on Friday after Egyptian authorities lifted a travel ban that had forced him to remain in the country since he was released in September.

But he immediately became embroiled in controversy after Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was “delighted” that Abd el-Fattah was back in the UK and had been reunited with his family.

That triggered the republication of messages on the social media platform Twitter, now X, that were described as antisemitic, homophobic and anti-British.

Abd el-Fattah expressed shock at the turn of events in a statement released Monday.

“I am shaken that, just as I am being reunited with my family for the first time in 12 years, several historic tweets of mine have been republished and used to question and attack my integrity and values, escalating to calls for the revocation of my citizenship,’’ he said.

The remarks were mostly expressions of a young man’s anger and frustrations in a time of regional crises such as the wars in Iraq, Lebanon and Gaza and the rise of police brutality against young people in Egypt, Abd el-Fattah said.

“Looking at the tweets now — the ones that were not completely twisted out of their meaning — I do understand how shocking and hurtful they are, and for that I unequivocally apologise,’’ he said in the statement.

But that has not staunched the flow of anger from politicians.

Reform Party leader Nigel Farage described the posts as “abhorrent” and said they showed Abd el-Fattah held views that are “completely opposed to our British way of life.”

“It should go without saying that anyone who possesses racist and anti-British views such as those of Mr. elFattah (sic) should not be allowed into the UK,” Farage wrote in a letter to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, who oversees immigration matters.

FILE - Pro-democracy activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah, who was in prison for almost all of the past 12 years, speaks to his friends at his home after he got a presidential pardon, in Cairo, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Khaled Elfiqi, File)