MINNEAPOLIS — Nickeil Alexander-Walker, in his fifth year in the NBA, said he has never laughed more during a season than he has this one with the Timberwolves.

One reason: Anthony Edwards.

"He's gonna make fun of himself. He's gonna make fun of everybody," said Alexander-Walker, who Edwards once accused of dressing way too nicely after a game.

Take postgame after the team's win over Atlanta on Friday, when Edwards, in a room full of reporters, made fun of a large designer bag Karl-Anthony Towns had in front of his locker. Towns was getting his share of grief for having it, but Edwards let him have it, joking that his daughter could fit in the suitcase.

But his jovial nature is also an indication of how the team's All-Star guard feels about Towns and the rest of his teammates.

"He's gonna laugh, and you got to take it," Alexander-Walker said. "You have to learn it's all love. If he's not making fun of you, chances are he don't really like you."

One reason the Wolves, who open the NBA playoffs on Saturday by playing Phoenix, have improved this season is because of how the team gets along.

That's ironic given this is largely the same group that had one teammate, Rudy Gobert, attempt to punch another, Kyle Anderson, during the last game of the regular season a year ago.

The Wolves seem to embrace each other for what everyone does well, and they don't dwell on flaws.

"The emotional intelligence of this group is one of the best I've ever been around," coach Chris Finch said. "As a team, there's a lot of awareness about who they are as players and who their teammates are. That's where it starts.

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