Anthony Edwards went off in Wednesday night’s season opener for the Minnesota Timberwolves. The scoreboard stayed fairly drama-free as Minnesota defeated the Miami Heat on the road by 25 points.
Ant-Man is known as one of the world’s best scorers, and he showed that on Wednesday with a 45-point gem despite sitting out the final 3:51.
After the game, Dane Moore asked him about the seemingly heightened intensity during the game, and Edwards revealed that an unnamed Heat player gave him some extra motivation.
“A player on their bench was talking trash," Edwards said. "He was talking pretty crazy. And then when I started talking to him, he didn't really have too much more to say. And I don't really like that. Like, if you're going to talk s—t, keep talking s—t. Don't get quiet.”
"I love that aspect of the game that fuels me every time," Edwards said when asked if that trash talk usually gets him going.
They always tell you not to poke the bear, and Edwards was poked a few too many times.
Heat helped spark Anthony Edwards' 45-point eruption
Edwards made difficult shots at will. It didn't matter how close Miami's defense was to Ant; he drained shots at will. Scoring 27 points from the 3-point range while constantly being covered is an impressive feat, and it's a testament to how gifted a scorer he is.
Just last season, Edwards dropped 41 points against the Portland Trail Blazers to open the regular season. Wednesday marked the third time in his career that he made at least nine 3-pointers, and the only time he made more was when he nailed 10 on January 4, 2025, against the Detroit Pistons.
So now the question is: Who on Miami decided to talk trash until Edwards talked back?
Since Edwards said it was someone on the bench, it was probably a player who didn’t check in while Edwards was on the floor. Miami had four players come in for the final 3:14 after he left: Nick Richards, Simone Fontecchio, Ryan Conwell, and Myles Gardner. Dru Smith was also available after sitting out the preseason with a calf injury, but he didn’t play.
Per Jon Krawczynski, "Several people in Heat world are sure it was Myron Gardner, but there has been no concrete confirmation."
Maybe someone can confirm later whether it was Gardner—or someone else. Whoever it was certainly regrets waking up a monster, though. Michael Jordan has mentioned how he used trash talk as fuel. Clearly, Edwards did the same. He was most animated with 4:28 left after a timeout was called when he pointed at someone on the Heat bench and started yapping at him.
Will the rest of the league learn from this incident? Let's hope not.
Only the Cleveland Cavaliers and Denver Nuggets haven’t played their season openers; both do so on Thursday. Edwards tied for the most points in a game after two days of NBA contests with (surprisingly) Ty Jerome of the Memphis Grizzlies.
Entering the year, an Edwards scoring title and/or 30-plus-point-per-game season felt like a real possibility. Wednesday did nothing to dissuade that.
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