Anthony Edwards came off the bench for the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night. But not on purpose. According to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic, Mike Conley got the start in place of Edwards because the Wolves superstar was simply late getting onto the floor. He didn’t make it out of the back rooms in time to start the game.
This isn’t the first time this has happened. A couple of years back, Edwards “lost track of time” before a Wolves game against the Portland Trail Blazers. Much like on Monday night, Edwards ended up coming off the bench, though he subbed in a mere 35 seconds into the game.
Seeing it happen all over again is certainly enough to make Wolves fans raise their eyebrows. At least, a little bit.
Anthony Edwards missing the start of game was weird
Since that first incident, which occurred in March of 2024, Edwards has done great things in Minnesota. He’s made two Western Conference finals, taking the Timberwolves to heights that the organization has never seen before.
By and large, Edwards has been incredible for the Timberwolves. But there have been a few incidents when Edwards’ maturity has been called into question.
Whether it’s ill-advised comments made on social media or general immaturity based on behind-the-scenes videos, it’s always been a topic of conversation.
However, based on Chris Finch’s comment about nature potentially calling before the game, it seems as though this instance may have just been a case of Edwards’ body battling against him.
Regardless, these are the types of things that will be brought up constantly when assessing the ceiling of who Edwards can become as a player. For as great as he is on the court, these types of situations have formed a pattern at this point, nature or otherwise.
It didn’t matter on Monday night. The Wolves still managed to pull out an easy win over the Dallas Mavericks, who are in full-on tank mode.
However, what if it were in the playoffs? And what if it wasn’t about nature anymore? What if Edwards lost track of time again?
Perhaps it wouldn’t matter in the grand scheme of the game, just as it didn’t on Monday, but it would still make the news cycle, just as it did on Monday.
Edwards has done amazing things for the Wolves organization. He is their franchise player, and he doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon.
But incidents like this are just enough to bring up small frustrations throughout the fanbase (even if it was just nature calling this time around).