The NBA fined Anthony Edwards $40K for complaining about officiating. He got a lot of complaining in for that price.
Edwards complained repeatedly about the officiating in Minnesota’s 107-101 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder Jan. 29. First, he called out the referees in his postgame interview, preceding his criticism by declaring he’d “take the fine, because the refs did not give us no calls tonight.”
Even before his interview, Edwards could be heard after the game using colorful language to describe the officials.
Edwards also called the referees “bad” and “terrible” and complained that the Timberwolves had to play “8-on-5.”
Did he have a point? Perhaps. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander shot 16 free throws in that game by himself, more than Minnesota’s entire team (Edwards took four free throws). He also audibly slapped Edwards’ arm on a dunk, which wasn’t whistled, and even validated as a correct no-call in the Last Two-Minute Report.
This infuriated Wolves fans and writers, especially after referees missed ten calls in the final two minutes of Minnesota’s loss to Charlotte a week earlier, including two separate uncalled fouls on Karl-Anthony Towns’ final drive.
Wolves beat writer Jon Krawczynski suggested that Edwards might need to flop harder to get a fair whistle.
Coincidentally, in a November meeting between these two teams, SGA drew a foul on Edwards with one of the more egregious flops you’ll see all year, featuring a gratuitous head snap.
Of course, the other factor may be that the officials are numb to Edwards yelling “Hey!” virtually any time he heads to the basket.
Maybe the referees are sick of Edwards yelling. His fine says the NBA got tired of it, too.
