Another day, another fine for Anthony Edwards.
This time it’s for $50,000. The NBA announced the fine Wednesday night. The infraction? Edwards dropped an F bomb during his postgame news conference Tuesday after his Minnesota Timberwolves lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals.
Edwards used the language while talking about a night in which he attempted just 13 field goals. It aired live on ESPN and drew the ire of the NBA’s league office.
Here’s the moment that got Edwards in trouble. If it’s not clear from the context, the audio is NSFW.
“I guess I’ve gotta shoot more,” Edwards said while discussing his 18-point performance. “I only took 13 f***ing shots.”
The fine was the second of the postseason for Edwards and sends his season-long tally to the NBA office to $420,000. Many of Edwards’ fines are similar his latest — for using profane language while speaking with media.
But his previous fine was for language directed at a fan. Edwards got into what appeared to be some good-natured trash-talking with a court-side Lakers fan during Minnesota’s first-round victory over Los Angeles about who has more money.
Anthony Edwards has been fined again. (Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images)
(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect / Reuters)
He concluded the conversation by declaring in so many words, well, that his anatomy is larger than said fan’s. He then grabbed his crotch. That incident was recorded on video and shared on social media. It also drew a $50,000 fine.
Edwards’ list of regular-season fines include infractions for flipping off officials, criticizing officials and, yes, using profane language in media settings.
It’s long been evident that Edwards is not worried about the fines. Edwards is playing on a five-year, $244 million contract in addition to his multitude of sponsorships and, at 23 years old, has a long runway to sign multiple lucrative deals.
He clearly values using a not-insignificant portion of that money to say and do pretty much as he pleases, fearless of the financial wrath of the NBA. He can afford to do so.
As opposed to his rookie teammate Jaylen Clark, who played six minutes in Minnesota’s blowout loss to Oklahoma City. Clark’s rookie contract this season is valued at $492,323. That’s before taxes. At Edwards’ fine rate, he’d be broke.
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