Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards fined $100K

Minnesota trailed Houston by 16 points with less than five minutes remaining in regulation, but stormed all the way back to eke out a one-point win, 113-112. Edwards hit the game-winning three-pointer after the club’s intended play, designed for All-Star forward Julius Randle, fell apart.

“We made it happen,” Edwards said of his team’s comeback, per Timberwolves Rally (Twitter video link). “We got some stops. We made some big shots, and we made a big shot at the end right there. All I knew was, the play was for [Randle] to go… big-small pick-and-roll, once he picked it up, I mean, who else? I got to go get it, s—.” 

“And [Nickeil Alexander-Walker] found me,” Edwards said. “I’m like, ‘S—, I’m going for the win.’ Like Gilbert Arenas said, ‘I don’t do overtime,’ so f— it.”

Edwards finished the game with 24 points on 9-of-17 shooting from the floor and 2-of-3 shooting from the foul line, along with five rebounds, three assists and a block.

The 6-foot-4 wing was fined $75K for the same kind of infraction, cursing in a postgame interview, less than a week ago. Two weeks prior to that, the league penalized him with a $25K fine for swearing during a postgame media session after another contest. In November, the NBA saw fit to ding Edwards for a cool $35K for flipping off a Sacramento fan.

It appears the league is hoping to send a message to Edwards about speaking so casually in these interviews with these escalating fines.

Across 30 contests so far, the two-time All-Star is submitting typically solid numbers for a middling 16-14 Timberwolves squad. Edwards is averaging 25.3 points on .447/.420/.803 shooting splits, 5.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists a night.