Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards was fined $40,000 by the NBA on Tuesday for homophobic comments he made on social media.
The league announced the punishment for Edwards’ use of “offensive and derogatory language” in a since-deleted Instagram video published to his more than 1m followers. He later apologized for the post.
Edwards recorded a group of men on a sidewalk and could be heard in making a disparaging, profane comment about what he assumed to be their sexual orientation. He posted an apology on Twitter soon after, and the Timberwolves issued a statement reprimanding the 22-year-old.
“What I said was immature, hurtful, and disrespectful, and I’m incredibly sorry. It’s unacceptable for me or anyone to use that language in such a hurtful way,” Edwards tweeted last week. “There’s no excuse for it, at all. I was raised better than that!”
Nikola Jokic, Kevin Durant, Rajon Rondo and Kobe Bryant are among the NBA players who have been disciplined by the league in the past for homophobic language.
The first overall pick in the 2020 draft, Edwards was Minnesota’s second-leading scorer last season with an average of 21.3 points per game that ranked 19th in the league. His average of 1.5 steals per game was 13th in the NBA.