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After ejection in LA, Wolves' Anthony Edwards has to be better with emotions

Edwards will be suspended for Friday night's game in Utah unless one of his technicals is rescinded.

Will Ragatz

Feb 27, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) reacts after being ejected during the third quarter against the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena.
Feb 27, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) reacts after being ejected during the third quarter against the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena. / Jason Parkhurst-Imagn Images
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Anthony Edwards may not want to be the face of the NBA, but he's certainly the face of the Minnesota Timberwolves. And in that role, with that responsibility, the 23-year-old superstar has to be better. Not in a basketball sense, although Edwards' incredible season-long shooting spurt has dried up a bit lately. No, the Wolves need Ant to be better from an emotional maturity standpoint.

He picked up two technical fouls in Thursday night's loss to the Lakers in Los Angeles, which resulted in his ejection in the third quarter. Having come into the game with an NBA-high 14 techs on the season, Edwards has now hit the threshold of 16 that triggers a one-game suspension. Unless either of his techs is rescinded by the league — which seems unlikely — he'll miss Friday night's game in Utah. Every two additional technical fouls he accrues for the remainder of the season would lead to another one-game suspension.

Update: Edwards has officially been suspended for one game, the NBA announced Friday afternoon.

Edwards has earned four techs in four games since the All-Star break. He got them in consecutive games against the Rockets and Thunder for complaining to officials, which is how most of them happen. Between the first and second quarter of Thursday's game, Edwards and former teammate Jarred Vanderbilt picked up double techs for a brief shoving match.

Then, in the third quarter, Edwards got his second of the night when he complained after appearing to be fouled by the Lakers' Gabe Vincent, whose leg contacted Ant's leg. Official Brent Barnaky appeared to have a very quick trigger on the tech call. After the game, crew chief James Williams said in a pool report that Edwards was ejected for "directing profanity towards the game official."

"Just call the (blocking foul) and nothing happens," Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch said. "Clearly, it was a block."

But even if Finch was frustrated with the officiating in Thursday's game, he also knows Edwards can't keep putting himself in these situations to pick up technical fouls and hurt the team. Whether or not Edwards has a point about a missed call doesn't justify the emotional reactions that have led to so many techs this year.

"He's gotta be better," Finch said. "He's gotta be better. He's had too many outbursts. I think a lot of (the techs) are deserved. They're gonna miss some calls from time to time, for sure. So he's gotta be better, and we've been talking to him about it. It's on him."

Edwards' 16 technicals this year are three more than the next-closest player, Houston's Dillon Brooks. The All-Star with the second-most techs is Atlanta's Trae Young, who has ten. Only nine players in the entire league have more than seven on the season. Far too often, Edwards lets his emotions get the best of him after what he believes to be a missed call by the officials. Again, even if he's right in that assessment, he can't start complaining (and often swearing) at the refs. Not only does it lead to techs, it often means he isn't getting back on defense.

After being ejected on Thursday, Edwards threw the ball into the stands in disgust. It's possible that an act like that might've ended any chance for his second tech to be rescinded by the league.

At 23, Edwards is still a young player. But he's also in his fifth season in the league. He's the face of the franchise and one of the rising faces of the league, whether he likes it or not. This kind of thing can't continue to happen, especially with every game being so important for the 32-28 Timberwolves.

Veteran guard Mike Conley, the team's oldest player, said Edwards apologized to the team after the game. Conley also echoed Finch's message that Ant has to be better.

"We've got a lot of guys who get emotional when things don't go the right way, individually, and it can hurt our team as a whole," Conley said. "And we have to better. Ant has to be better, he knows that. He apologized to me when I came back to talk to him, and apologized to the team. He knows he's gotta be better for us and all of us down the line, myself, Jaden, Naz, and anybody else who's dealing with whatever they're dealing with on the court, you have to set it aside and find a way to stick together right now.

"A lot of teams are fighting right now. They're fighting for positioning, they're fighting for playoff spots, and we can't let small things get in the way of what we're trying to do right now."

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Will Ragatz
WILL RAGATZ

Will Ragatz is a senior writer for Vikings On SI. He is a credentialed Minnesota Vikings beat reporter, covering the team extensively at practices, games and throughout the NFL draft and free agency period. Ragatz attended Northwestern University, where he studied at the prestigious Medill School of Journalism. During his time as a student, he covered Northwestern Wildcats football and basketball for SB Nation’s Inside NU, eventually serving as co-editor-in-chief in his junior year. In the fall of 2018, Will interned in Sports Illustrated’s newsroom in New York City, where he wrote articles on Major League Baseball, college football, and college basketball for SI.com.

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