Wolves coach Chris Finch on Ant's complaints, NBA referee 'growing pains'

"We're just encouraging him to have a healthy and productive relationship with the referees."

Anthony Edwards could be fined for calling out the referees following Minnesota's 107-101 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night, and Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch said he had a word with his 22-year-old superstar about publicly criticizing the officials. 

"I talked to him briefly after the game. Listen, if that's how he feels then I think he feels strongly about it. Doing it after a win he feels maybe it grabs a little more attention. It's early in Anthony's career, we're just encouraging him to have a healthy and productive relationship with the referees," Finch said Wednesday morning during an interview on KFXN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. 

"I think he does for the most part. I think his personality is one that they enjoy talking to out there. He gets hit a lot and he lets them know every single time and I told him maybe not all the time, just play. You're going to be a great player, you're going to have a lot of physicality."

In Tuesday's showdown between the top two teams in the West, Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander attempted 16 free throws compared to just four for Edwards. 

TV cameras caught Edwards immediately after the game saying "cheating a** refs" and he followed up by criticizing the refs during his interview with Bally Sports North sideline reporter and WNBA legend Rebekah Brunson.

“I don’t know. I don’t know," Edwards said when asked how they won. "And Imma take the fine because the refs did not give us no calls tonight. We had to play through every bump, every grab — I don’t know. I don’t know how we won tonight. Big shoutout to my team, big shoutout to my coaches, for sure.”

In the locker room after the game Edwards kept criticizing, telling ESPN that the refs "was terrible," that Minnesota "was playing 8-on-5" and that "the cat got their tongue tonight."

Jan 29, 2024; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) reacts after a play against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the second half at Paycom Center / Credit: Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports

In all, the Timberwolves were called for 19 fouls to the Thunder’s 17, but the Thunder had 22 free throws compared to 15 for Minnesota.  

"Michael Jordan didn't get every single call when he went to the hoop," Finch continued, "but I do feel like [Edwards] gets hit a lot more, particularly when you look at the way this game is officiated around some players. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a great example of that. He has the ball in his hands a ton and there's a lot of contact around him but the level of contact doesn't always rise to the foul but yet he seemingly shoots 15 free throws a night. These are hard things for players to understand at times, especially when they're out there trying to guard on one end and then not being rewarded on the other. It's a tough game, it's a fast game and the referees I'm sure are doing the best job they can."

Edwards had a 30.8% usage rate Monday night while Gilgeous-Alexander's usage rate was 40.4%, according to Cleaning The Glass. By the math, Gilgeous-Alexander attempted 75% more free throws despite having the ball in his hands just 25% more of the time than Edwards. 

Finch did take a moment to applaud the difficult job referees have and noted that the league's refs are younger and going through some growing pains. 

"One thing I think that's important to recognize about the officiating is that it's still the best in the world. These guys take their job very seriously. I know they're not trying to miss calls, I 100% believe that. They're very well trained professionals. But there's a lot of new, young referees i the league," Finch said. "We've seen a bunch of older, experienced referees retire in the last 4-5 years and they're trying to replenish the troops with that experience and it's just a bit of growing pains that we have to go through as a league. Hopefully we'll get to a point where the consistency is at the highest level and maybe the best ever."

Up next: Edwards and the Timberwolves host free-throw machine Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks Wednesday at 7:10 p.m. CT. 

'Imma take the fine': Anthony Edwards rips 'cheating' refs