After huge fine, Anthony Edwards stands behind his ref comments

"It needed to be said."

A $40,000 fine is nothing for a young NBA superstar who is about to make over $200 million in the next five years – and for Anthony Edwards, he stands by his public criticism of the officials from Minnesota's win over the Thunder on Monday night. 

Speaking to media Thursday, Edwards said he "don't care about" the fine he was issued for his comments, in which he was caught on camera saying "cheat a** refs" and later said the Wolves were playing "8-on-5" and that the a "cat caught their tongues."

"S***, it needed to be said," Edwards said Thursday. "Like I said, I’ll take the fine. I’m OK with it.”

Minnesota's 22-year-old star was left frustrated after two incidents Monday. In the first half, Chet Holmgren made a lot of contact as Edwards was on his way to the rim for dunk but no foul was called. Then late in the game Shai Gilgeous-Alexander could be seen grabbing and holding onto Ant's arm as he was flying to the rim for a dunk. Again, no call. 

The Last Two Minute report from the league ruled the contact from Gilgeous-Alexander as "marginal."

Edwards appeared to be saying "cheating a** refs" after the final buzzer and told Bally Sports North in a postgame interview, "Imma take the fine because the refs did not give us no calls tonight.”

The $40,000 fine Edwards received is the largest for any player this season that has been penalized for publicly criticizing game officials. Asked if he expected a larger fine, Edwards answered, "Yeah, probably because I said they was cheating."

Anthony Edwards on his $40K fine for ripping refs: “I don’t care about it. S—, it needed to be said. Like I said, I’ll take the fine. I’m OK with it.”

The typical was higher than typical $25K. Ant: “Yeah, probably because I said they was cheating.” https://t.co/s2dckh3aGU

— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) February 1, 2024

Edwards also had thoughts on how many All-Stars the team should have this season. The NBA is set announce the All-Star Game reserves Thursday night. There is some question about how many players the Wolves will send with Edwards, Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert all deserving of nods.

Minnesota sitting in first place in the West is a big reason Edwards thinks the team should be sending all three of the Wolves' stars to Indianapolis. 

"Because last year didn’t Memphis have two players and they were No. 2, right? It’s only right we should have one more because we are No. 1 in the West and they were No. 2 and had two," Edwards said. 

If Minnesota wins their game Friday night against the Magic they will for sure be sending head coach Chris Finch and his coaching staff. The coaches with the best record in each conference two weeks before the game send their staff to lead the All-Star teams.

Jan 31, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) laughs after getting called for a foul in the first quarter of the game with the Dallas Mavericks at Target Center / © Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports