To sit at 21-18 and third in the Northwest Division was not in the cards, nor was falling already 11.5 games back of the Oklahoma City Thunder (32-6).
You would expect a 23-year-old to have better decorum than to have verbally abused officials three times this season.
On Monday, “Ant” was fined $50,000 by the NBA for making an obscene gesture towards an official after receiving a technical foul in a game against the Memphis Grizzlies. On December 23, Edwards was fined $75,000 for publicly criticizing an official against Golden State. December 4 saw a $25,000 fine for profanity during a post game interview. On November 17, Edwards was docked $35,000 for an obscene gesture on the court against the Sacramento Kings.
Additionally, NBA players are fined $2,000 per each technical foul (up to five) they receive during a game. From 6-11 the amount increases to $3,000. Technicals 11-15 earn $4,000, and the magical #16 is $5,000 and a one game suspension. Everyone after 16 is still $5,000, but the suspension comes every two thereafter. Add $18,000 in technical fouls to the total.
The coup de grace was a $100,000 fine for profanity during a postgame interview on December 29, which was the third time in as many weeks. The amount of the fine increases with each compounded infraction.
All in all, this has set Edwards back $285,000 of his $42.1 million salary for this season, and the Timberwolves are not even halfway through their schedule. Keep in mind that Houston’s Fred VanVleet actually made contact with officials twice this season, and was fined a total of $85,000 by the league.
If you would have given me a list of 10 NBA players that could have racked up over $100,000 in fines this year, Edwards would not have cracked the top 20. This is a list that would completely suspect Draymond Green or Dillon Brooks would reign supreme. Brooks has eight technicals, Green has nine and an ejection.
After the fine on Monday was announced, Edwards, who is tied with Brooks for the most techs in the league, said he would not say anything else, and would not get any more technicals this year.
He earned 15 of them last season.
Edwards is currently on pace for 18, which would earn him two one-game suspensions, both of which would be unpaid, and an extra $38,000 in fines. So if nothing else, Edwards would be docked $323,000 without a multi-game suspension for a physical altercation.
The NBA is notorious for being quick to act for players fighting, or highly controversial notoriety. Green was suspended indefinitely after elbowing a player in the face last season, only weeks after choking Edwards’ teammate Rudy Goebert during an on-court altercation. When Memphis star Ja Morant made a fool of league commissioner Adam Silver for posting a video on social media in May of 2023 waving a gun, only two months after being suspended eight games for the same damn thing, the media and league officials applauded the swift judgment. Morant was suspended 25 games for the second infraction, with a league-sponsored program being one of his conditions for reinstatement. Just three weeks after his return, Morant suffered a shoulder injury in practice, and would miss the rest of the 2023-24 season.
So where does that leave Edwards? Actions require consequence, even if violence is not a factor. Personally I am stunned that VanVleet did not receive some level of suspension after making forceful contact with an official. The idea that Edwards has made obscene gestures directed towards at least one on-court official on three occasions has me wondering why Silver has not broken him off at least a game or two already.
Players have the right to argue a call in the same fashion that an official can give out a technical when the argument crosses a line. Some officials are quicker than others to issue a tech, but they have the discretion to do so as they see fit. This is where the coaching staff needs to get their players under control to avoid a situation where Edwards is suspended for one gesture too many in the middle of a playoff race.
-JC24