It's been an up and down Western Conference Finals for Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards, who followed up his epic Game 3 performance with a quiet 16 points in Minnesota's Game 4 loss vs the Oklahoma City Thunder. The loss put the Thunder up 3-1 in the series, meaning the Timberwolves will be facing elimination on Wednesday night in Oklahoma City.

Much has been made over the last year about whether or not Edwards is the next “face of the NBA” considering his undeniable talent and charisma.

Recently, NBA insider Kendrick Perkins of ESPN dropped a baffling reason why he doesn't think Edwards can be in that conversation.

“You got to be a role model, right? Things outside the lines matter. Now if you go down the list of all the faces of the league in the history of the game,” said Perkins on First Take. “You look at Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Shaq, LeBron, Steph, what do they all have in common? While they were playing in the league, they all were family men. They all were married with kids.”

Not all of the names that Perkins mentioned were necessarily models of smooth domestic lives, although it's unclear altogether why Perkins believes such matters play into a player's role as the “face of the league.”

A tough night for Edwards

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Just 48 hours after eviscerating the Oklahoma City defense in Game 3, Anthony Edwards looked like a shell of himself in Game 4, not taking his first shot attempt until several minutes into the game and largely finding himself unable to put pressure on the Thunder defense until late in the second half.

The Timberwolves now find themselves down the 3-1, the same position they were in during last year's Conference Finals series vs the Dallas Mavericks.

Timberwolves fans will certainly be hoping that this year's Game 5 goes better than last year's, although trying to win an elimination game in Oklahoma City certainly won't be an easy task.

Game 5 of Timberwolves vs Thunder is set for Wednesday evening at 8:30 PM ET and will be carried nationally by ESPN.