NBA superstar Anthony Edwards received a lot of criticism about his actions towards the Game 6 elimination of his Minnesota Timberwolves against the San Antonio Spurs. Minnesota suffered a heartbreaking one-sided loss to end their season and fell short of a third consecutive Western Conference Finals appearance. Edwards decided to shake hands with the Spurs before the mid-point of the fourth quarter when he got subbed out.
Udonis Haslem and other veterans called out Edwards to disrespect his team by doing it so early. Edwards addressed it via his YouTube channel today:
“I mean, there was no reason why. I feel like everybody just has their own opinion. Yeah, it was eight minutes left in the game, but we weren’t coming back. When you win a playoff series, everybody’s celebrating at the end of the game. They’re going to be smiling while I’m pissed off that we just lost.
So I was like, let me go congratulate these boys because I ain’t trying to be kicking it with y’all after y’all just whooped my a**. I didn’t want to go dap them up after the game at all. Then people would’ve had a whole different conversation about me.”
Edwards made it clear that he just wanted to get the respect exchange out of the way early and didn’t want to prolong the night. However, players never do this to make Edwards stand out for not supporting his teammates that were checking into the game.
Why Critics Trashed Anthony Edwards’ Actions
The former NBA players and general pundits who questioned Edwards focused on how rare this was. Players typically wait until the final buzzer to exchange hugs and pleasantries once the game and/or series officially ends.
Edwards broke the unwritten rules by doing it with a lot of time left. Haslem specifically called out Edwards for not going to the bench to cheer on his teammates, like the bench players did for him all season.
The visual was a bad look to see Edwards going into the Spurs huddle to hug Victor Wembanyama, Stephon Castle, and the rest of the roster. Everyone else on the Timberwolves roster was in their huddle listening to the coach.
Why Many Questioned Anthony Edwards’ Intentions
Edwards is claiming here that it was an innocent gesture to just show respect to the Spurs. However, ESPN’s First Take and other outlets had a full discussion over whether Edwards was sending a message to the Minnesota front office that he was unhappy with the franchise.
Ant’s best teammates Julius Randle and Rudy Gobert gave the team little to nothing in the second round series after a solid first round vs the Denver Nuggets. The Timberwolves’ roster clearly looks a full tier behind the Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder as the class of the West.
Edwards doing something no one in NBA history has ever done by going to the opposing huddle to offer congrats does put pressure on the franchise, regardless of his intent. Minnesota is expected to be active this offseason in hopes of improving the roster to fully build a contender around Edwards.
Anthony Edwards Explains Controversial Moment In Elimination