Anthony Edwards has donated quite a bit of money to the NBA during the last two months of the year. But in fines, not in donations.
The Minnesota Timberwolves star was fined by the league once again, this time for $75,000. The sanction, according to NBA head of basketball operations Joe Dumars, was for “public criticism of the referee and use of inappropriate and profane language.”
Edwards’ comments came following Minnesota’s 113-103 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Saturday.
“They’re fucking terrible. All of them except the woman,” Edwards told reporters at his locker. “But the other two guys, terrible. Excuses for the reason they call a foul, the reason they don’t call a foul. That shit was terrible.
“They don’t want to answer to my coach, they don’t want to answer to me,” he added. “I told the referee one thing, he gave me a technical. The son of a bitch told one of my teammates that if I had told him, ‘They’re calling a serious foul,’ he wouldn’t have given me one. Tech. Just “They’re sensitive and they’re terrible…they penalize me and (Julius Randle) for being stronger than our opponent every night. So yeah, that’s how I feel about the referees every game we play.”
Sean Wright, Sean Corbin and Simone Jelks made up the refereeing team for Saturday’s showdown.
Edwards only attempted four free throws in the game, making three, which likely motivated his tirade. The Timberwolves made 25 free throws to the Warriors’ 23, so there was no disparity between the two teams. But what wasn’t called, in Edwards’ view, was clearly a problem. He was also called for four personal fouls in the game,
The fine imposed on Edwards is the second imposed by the NBA in two weeks. He was also fined $25,000 for using profane language, although not to criticize the referees, but to praise his teammates’ defense, after a December 8 game, also against Golden State.
Edwards has been fined by the league three times in the last five weeks for a total of $135,000. On Nov. 17, the former No. 1 overall pick was docked $35,000 for giving the middle finger to a fan in Sacramento. It was not reported what prompted Edwards’ gesture, but it was apparently motivated by Minnesota assistant coach Corliss Williamson saying he had been playing “soft.” There was no profane language or anger toward officials in the incident.
The Timberwolves begin a three-game road trip Monday night against the Atlanta Hawks before a Christmas Day showdown against the Dallas Mavericks. The trip ends with a Friday game with the Houston Rockets.