Anthony Edwards let a fan in Sacramento know how he felt with an obscene gesture on Friday. That middle finger cost the Minnesota Timberwolves star $35,000. The NBA announced the fine on Sunday.
As the NBA’s memo explained, Edwards gestured toward a fan during the first quarter of Friday’s 130–126 Timberwolves win over the Kings.
Photographers caught the action in question quite clearly. The image is likely to pop up frequently in disagreements throughout social media.
No word on what may have compelled this reaction from Edwards, but remarks from Minnesota assistant coach Corliss Williamson apparently motivated him to be aggressive going into the game.
“Corliss, my coach, told me I’ve been playing ‘soft’ for 11, 12 games,” Edwards told reporters. “So I told him yesterday, I was going to dunk on one of their ass. So when I did it, I looked right at him.”
The recipient of Edwards’ approach was Domantas Sabonis, who was dunked on during the third quarter.
“That felt good,” Edwards said after watching a clip of the dunk.
Edwards finished with 36 points, shooting 6 for 14 from 3-point range. He leads the NBA in 3-pointers made with 64.
However, that performance was overshadowed by De’Aaron Fox exploding for 60 points, a Kings franchise record. Sacramento needed Fox to carry the team with Malik Monk and DeMar DeRozan out with injuries.
Edwards scored Minnesota’s final six points in regulation to force overtime and added seven more in overtime to lead the Timberwolves to victory and a 1–1 record in the West Group A standings for the NBA Cup in-season tournament. Minnesota broke a three-game losing streak and improved to 7–6 overall.
This isn’t the first large fine Edwards has been issued by the NBA. Last season, he was docked $40,000 for criticizing officials, saying the Timberwolves were “playing 8-on-5” in a win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.