Late in the Minnesota Timberwolves’ 120-114 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Oct. 29, P.J. Washington pulled Anthony Edwards aside at the foul line. Why, he asked, did he get called for a foul when Edwards had done the same thing to him on the other end?
Edwards didn’t have to ruminate on it. He gets that whistle, he told Washington. So does Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving.
P.J. Washington? He doesn’t get that call.
Edwards knows superstars get better whistles in the NBA. It’s an unspoken rule in a game that’s challenging to officiate. Basketball is a fast-paced, physical game in which officials must determine whether a player committed a foul in an instant.
Part of the calculus is whether the player who gets fouled could have scored on the play. Irving can contort his body like Houdini. Dončić can snipe from all over the court like he’s Marky Mark playing Bob Lee Swagger.
Edwards acts like a boxer. He’s brash and physically imposing. During the playoffs, he wore an Atlanta Braves cap and a beater after games and used his platform to entertain people with blue comedy. This season, Edwards often does interviews sitting shirtless outside his locker, unafraid to speak his mind.
On Saturday, he was upset with the officiating after Minnesota’s 113-101 loss to the Golden State Warriors.
“The reason they call a foul,” said Edwards. “The reason they didn’t call a foul, the s— was terrible.”
Edwards said that Chris Finch and the players asked for explanations, but the officials didn’t offer any. “I said one thing to the ref,” he said. “He gave me a tech.”
He clarified that he was upset with Sean Wright and Sean Corbin but not Simone Jelks. Edwards was mainly upset that they wouldn’t let Julius Randle and him play physically.
“M——– told one of my teammates, if I would have said y’all calling a bad foul, he wouldn’t have gave me a tech,” said Edwards. “They’re just sensitive, and they terrible. They never give us – they penalize me and Ju for being stronger than our opponent every night, and I don’t get no calls.”
Edwards had similar gripes last year. The league fined him $40,000 after he complained about the officiating following a 107-101 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder last year.
“I’mma take the fine because the refs did not give us no calls tonight,” Edwards told Lea B. Olsen after the game. “We had to play through every bump, every grab. I don’t know. I don’t know how we won tonight.”
Edwards continued to complain about the officiating in an interview with ESPN.
“The refs was bad tonight. Yeah, they was terrible,” Edwards told ESPN. “We was playing 8-on-5.”
He later added: “The cat got their tongue tonight, so it’s all good. It’s not fair, but it’s all good.”
The league will fine Edwards again, especially because he used harsh language to describe the officials. He’s also not an objective observer. The officials, who are only occasionally available for pool reports, likely saw things differently.
However, players don’t have a public avenue to complain about officiating. Last March, the league fined Rudy Gobert $100,000 for making a money sign toward the refs in a 113-104 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
That wasn’t the best way to address concerns over officiating and gambling. However, players don’t have an official way to publicly discuss poor or potentially corrupt officiating. Edwards wants to play physically and has chosen to accept the fines and address how the league officiates him.
“I get penalized for being stronger than my opponent,” Edwards said on Saturday. “So they get in the middle of it, and I do the same. They bump me the same way they bump everybody else, and I don’t get any good calls. I don’t know what got to go down, but something got to happen because that s—’s terrible.”
Edwards must respect the officials, but the league should give him a public venue to discuss the officiating. He’s a superstar because he can impose himself on the court. However, he can’t do that if he’s called for ticky-tack fouls.
Naturally, Edwards may feel he can change the officiating through force of will. However, he may have better luck reaching into the honey pot instead of dousing them with vinegar. He should occasionally channel Anta Claus instead of Kermit Wilts.
Still, that’s not a perfect solution. Edwards is reacting in real-time during an emotional game. He won’t get every call he wants, and he’s not an objective observer. However, the game would flow better if the officials called fewer fouls. Edwards is a superstar, and the officials should allow him to be physical on the court.
Edwards isn’t LeBron James. But he also isn’t P.J. Washington.