Minnesota Timberwolves: NBA reaction to Anthony Edwards missing ROY

With the way that LaMelo Ball started his rookie season, it was always going to be an uphill climb for Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards to win the Rookie of the Year award.

Indeed, Ball was announced as the winner on Wednesday, and by a comfortable margin. He earned 84 of 99 first-place votes, while Edwards appeared first on the other 15 ballots and second in 75 of the other 84.

Not everyone around the team and the league felt as though the voters got it right, however.

Minnesota Timberwolves: NBA reaction to Anthony Edwards missing ROY

The Timberwolves Twitter account led the charge in the … less than thrilled response to the Rookie of the Year news.

Short and to the point. They later followed with a few more facts to support their futile case.

Unsurprisingly, Wolves superstar Karl-Anthony Towns had a similar response.

For his part, Anthony Edwards didn’t shy away from making his feelings known and agreeing that he is, in fact, a bear that has been poked. Look out, league.

There were some measured responses, as well. Orlando Magic rookie Cole Anthony chose to play this one straight down the middle.

Of course, the case for Ball was obvious. For the entirety of the season, he was the best rookie. Ball’s offensive creativity and surprising efficiency was much more advanced than Edwards, and if the former had not gotten injured, this likely isn’t even a conversation.

In April and May, however, Edwards took something of a leap. He averaged 23.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game while improving his shooting to 46.8 percent from the field and 36.5 percent on 3-pointers while throwing up eight long-range attempts per game.

The argument for Edwards was the sheer trajectory of his improvement, the flashes of utterly dominant scoring, and the fact that he appeared in every single game.

But the entire season counts, and Ball’s start-to-finish campaign was slightly more impressive.

Still, it was a fantastic year for the Wolves rookie. The idea of the April/May version of Edwards slotting in next to D’Angelo Russell and alongside Karl-Anthony Towns and Malik Beasley is exciting, to put it mildly.

Edwards appears to be champing at the bit to get back on the court and prove himself. He now joins the rest of us in agreeing that October can’t come soon enough…