NBA player 'incredibly sorry' for posting anti-gay video to social media
Anthony Edwards of the Minnesota Timberwolves apologized Sunday for anti-LGBTQ remarks he made in a video posted to Instagram over the weekend.
But for Edwards, it’s his path to hit back at Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks, whom he faced last season in the Western Conference Finals. In 2011, the Chicago Bulls’ Joakim Noah was fined a similar amount for hurling an anti-gay slur at a fan.
Edwards is entering his third season as a shooting guard for the Timberwolves. 1 overall pick, Anthony Edwards, ran into scrutiny on Sunday for posting a video on his social media that addressed several men in skimpy outfits as "queer(s)."
Edwards, 21, was filming the group of men from inside his vehicle — riding with a female passenger, who was heard in the background of the video.
“It’s unacceptable for me or anyone to use that language in such a hurtful way, there’s no excuse for it, at all.
Associated Press contributed.
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He helped lead the T-Wolves to the first round of the NBA postseason — they were eliminated in six games by the Memphis Grizzlies.
In 2018, Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic was fined $25,000 by the Association for using an "anti-gay" slur.
The NBA is reviewing the matter, the league's spokesman, Mike Bass, told NBC News in an email.
In the now-deleted video, Edwards, 21, rolls down a car window and calls a group of shirtless men “queer” as another person in the car laughs in the background.
Edwards finished the regular season this year, averaging 27.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game, but he’ll have to do a lot better than if he were to give the Wolves a fighting chance against LeBron James and Luka Doncic’s Lakers.
He might’ve deleted it as soon as he realized his mistake, but it’s already spread like wildfire.
During a Reddit AMA season with openly gay reporter Chris Hine, writer for the Minnesota Tribune and author of his upcoming biography, said, “I do touch on the homophobic comments when discussing his third season, which is when that happened.”
He added, “However, I will say I don’t dwell on them or make it a big deal in the book.
Speaking sweet truth. Look at the world I came to."
The Instagram Story post included a caption that read, "Dese n****s different."
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After the post spread through social media and drew criticism, Edwards deleted it and followed up with an apology regarding his use of "immature, hurtful and disrespectful" language.
“What I said was immature, hurtful, and disrespectful, and I’m incredibly sorry,” Edwards said on Twitter.
However, the Timberwolves guard’s reputation took a downhill turn in his third season. Last year, NBA star Kevin Durant was fined $50,000 for using “offensive and derogatory language on social media” after a homophobic rant. Aside from being on top of the Philippine sports scene, she is also a running enthusiast. “
Hine said Edwards made a mistake, but what made the issue a bit tolerable was that he knew what he had done and learned from the said mistakes to become a better person, which made it easier for Hine to work with Ant-Man.
“I’ve said this before, but as an openly gay sports reporter who covers Ant, it did not affect my relationship with him overall,” Hine said.
I hope people do the same with me when I mess up. For others, it’s just another hurdle towards the championship.
Unfinished Business: Anthony Edwards vs Luka Doncic to open up the Playoffs
After spending the entire season figuring out where they’ll end up before the playoffs, Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves were able to finish ahead of the Golden State Warriors as they secured the No.
6 seed. In 2011, Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant was fined $100,000 using a similar comment deemed homophobic.
The Timberwolves and NBA have not commented on Edwards' post.
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Written by Alejandro Avila
Alejandro Avila is a longtime writer at OutKick, living in Southern California.
For more basketball content, click on Hardwood Heroics. Edwards posted a video on social media using some offensive language towards a homosexual couple. Sabel Reyes can be reached through sabelreyes22@gmail.com. After a wave of backlash on social media, Edwards said he was “incredibly sorry.”
“What I said was immature, hurtful, and disrespectful, and I’m incredibly sorry,” Edwards tweeted Sunday.
I was raised better than that!”
Edwards turned in a star-making performance in 2021-22: averaging 21.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists through the regular season.
The Timberwolves reprimanded Edwards in a statement distributed by the team on Monday.
“We are disappointed in the language and actions Anthony Edwards displayed on social media,” the team's president of basketball operations, Tim Connelly, said in the statement.