Fines don't seem to deter Anthony Edwards to talk about referees. At the end of January, he had already received a salary deduction of 40,000 dollars for having severely criticized them after a match against OKC.
This night after the lost meeting on the Lakers floor (120-109), and while Rudy Gobert had just taken a fine of 100,000 dollars for the same misconduct, “Ant” therefore handed it over again without taking a pinch of salt, first deploring the lack of fairness in terms of the free throws awarded (13 for the Wolves, 29 for the Lakers, including 13 for Anthony Davis).
“It’s hard every night, you know. When we don't go to the free throw line as much as the other team. When a single player shoots more shots than your entire team, it's tough. It's hard to fight.”, he blurted out. “In the fourth quarter, when you miss a shot, they go to the line every time. I take my hat off to my teammates and my coaches. We just have to go back to fighting every night.”
Anthony Edwards is not what you would call a “specialist” at drawing whistles, and lamented having only been on the penalty line four times that night, directly blaming the referees.
“What do you need to whistle?” »
“It’s hard not to get discouraged. For any player, because we want to be able to fight. If every time they have the ball, we make a mistake and they end up on free throws, it's complicated. We want to be able to fight without any whistles, that's for sure “, he added. “It messes with your mind on offense. Throughout the game, the things they tell us about why this action is a foul and this isn't a foul, it's crazy for us.”
Anthony Edwards completed his remarks with the example of an exchange which occurred during the match, after an action where he considered himself the victim of a foul which had not been called.
“I think I asked one of the refs today, 'I'm driving, he hits my arm, and I know you heard it. Isn't that a mistake?'. And he said, 'No.' So I said: 'What do you need to whistle then?' And I let the conversation continue. It was a great match, great referees tonight. See you next time “.
Obviously, he exposed himself to a new sanction with this public criticism when his coach, Chris Finch, was more subtle, complaining especially about seeing Anthony Davis stay “seven or eight seconds” in the racket with each attack. Criticizing both the referees… and his own players, who failed to keep him away from the circle.
| Anthony Edwards | Percentage | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Party | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 2020-21 | MIN | 72 | 32 | 41.7 | 32.9 | 77.6 | 0.8 | 3.9 | 4.7 | 2.9 | 1.8 | 1.1 | 2.2 | 0.5 | 19.3 |
| 2021-22 | MIN | 72 | 34 | 44.1 | 35.7 | 78.6 | 0.9 | 3.9 | 4.8 | 3.8 | 2.3 | 1.5 | 2.6 | 0.6 | 21.3 |
| 2022-23 | MIN | 79 | 36 | 45.9 | 36.9 | 75.6 | 0.6 | 5.2 | 5.8 | 4.4 | 2.4 | 1.6 | 3.3 | 0.7 | 24.6 |
| 2023-24 | MIN | 61 | 35 | 46.2 | 37.3 | 84.0 | 0.6 | 4.7 | 5.2 | 5.0 | 1.9 | 1.3 | 3.1 | 0.5 | 26.3 |
| Total | 284 | 34 | 44.6 | 35.6 | 79.0 | 0.7 | 4.4 | 5.1 | 4.0 | 2.1 | 1.4 | 2.8 | 0.6 | 22.8 | |
How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive rebound; Tot = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; Pts = Points.
