Anthony Edwards posts anti-gay slurs on social media

[Roy H.]

The Minnesota Timberwolves said in a statement Monday they were "disappointed" in guard Anthony Edwards for anti-gay comments he made in an Instagram video over the weekend.

"We are disappointed in the language and actions Anthony Edwards displayed on social media," the team said in a statement attributed to team president Tim Connelly that was released Monday afternoon. "The Timberwolves are committed to being an inclusive and welcoming organization for all and apologize for the offense this has caused to so many."

Edwards himself apologized for the video Sunday afternoon after it had circulated on social media.

"What I said was immature, hurtful, and disrespectful, and I'm incredibly sorry," Edwards said in a tweet posted mid-Sunday afternoon. "It's unacceptable for me or anyone to use that language in such a hurtful way, there's no excuse for it, at all. I was raised better than that!"

In the video, which has since been deleted, Edwards took a video of a group of people standing on a sidewalk from inside the car, and he used an anti-gay comment to describe them.

An NBA spokesperson said the league is reviewing the matter.

What's the punishment?  $50k fine plus diversity training? 

I think the max we've seen for something like this is a 1-game suspension for Rajon Rondo, for directing anti-gay slurs at referee Bill Kennedy.

[ozgod]

Slap on the wrist, which for him $50k would be, even at his rookie scale contract.

[gouki88]

Not a good look

[SparzWizard]

I remember the old days when Kobe Bryant called a ref an F F but at the time the era was not as sensitive as it is now.

[Celtics2021]

He might get a bit more than we’ve seen.  This reminds me more of Meyers Leonard than anyone else.  It’s not basketball court trashtalking, but casual usage on social media, ostensibly to mock people who were minding their own business.  He’s a better player than Leonard, so he won’t be blackballed, but I expect a game.

[Goldstar88]

He might get a bit more than we’ve seen.  This reminds me more of Meyers Leonard than anyone else.  It’s not basketball court trashtalking, but casual usage on social media, ostensibly to mock people who were minding their own business.  He’s a better player than Leonard, so he won’t be blackballed, but I expect a game.

That’s what I immediately thought of as well. It’s just as disgusting as what Myers said, but I doubt his team or the league do much about it.

[celticsclay]

I remember the old days when Kobe Bryant called a ref an F F but at the time the era was not as sensitive as it is now.

I don’t like a lot of aspects of society being sensitive right now or cancel culture. But if he is using the slur I think he is and broadcasting it to millions of people it’s fair for him to get a punishment. Most people would lose their job over it.

[libermaniac]

If anything, it shows he’s not the sharpest tool in the shed.

[Kernewek]

I remember the old days when Kobe Bryant called a ref an F F but at the time the era was not as sensitive as it is now.

Kobe didn't throw it up on social media as a post mocking someone. That's a fairly big difference.

I also remember the olden days when everything was 'gay' because 'gay' is bad, and amazingly, more gay people got beaten up and killed because they were gay in that era. Guess those gays shouldn't have been so sensitive.

Since you're pining for an era that wasn't as sensitive as it was now, you know that comment makes you look like a bit of a dolt, right?

[Neurotic Guy]

In a society that’s evolving on this subject it seems pretty useless to me to rely on precedent to determine the response to Edwards.  An evolving society evolves its response.  Edwards’ choice of words speaks to the continuing, free flow of slurs by some in everyday life.    Words have always been damaging catalysts, but more expansively in today’s social media world.  But what can you do once it’s been said and broadcast?  Damage is done, genie is out of the bottle.  The only outcome I see as valuable is that Edwards never utters the word again and discourages others in his orbit to use it. A lesson costly to him and to those who’ll continue to be victimized by the propagation of ignorance.

[jambr380]

He might get a bit more than we’ve seen.  This reminds me more of Meyers Leonard than anyone else.  It’s not basketball court trashtalking, but casual usage on social media, ostensibly to mock people who were minding their own business.  He’s a better player than Leonard, so he won’t be blackballed, but I expect a game.

I don't know. While what Leonard said was certainly not acceptable, there was no real context to what he was saying. It could be believable that he didn't know what the word meant and this could be shown in his apology as it was more one of disbelief and 'throw me on the sword.' He also wasn't directing it at jewish people in particular.

Edwards didn't directly use the word 'fa**ot', which I guess is a positive, but the way he used 'queer' and followed it up with, 'look what the world done come to, bruh,' shows that he not only knew what he was saying and who he was saying it to, but that he is disgusted by that community as a whole. This isn't the same as someone casually 'no homo' imo and then realizing that what they said was hurtful.

[Moranis]

As with all off court things, the league shouldn't do anything, but they will.  This should be up to the Wolves.  I'd make him go to sensitivity training and maybe donate whatever I'd fine him to organizations designed to combat this sort of hate.

[Roy H.]

In terms of precedent, Kobe got $100k for an on-court slur. (2011)

Rondo got a one game suspension for an on-court slur. (2015)

Leonard got a $50k fine and a seven day suspension from team facilities for an off-court slur. (2021)

Durant got a $50k fine for homophobic and misogynistic language directed at Michael Rappaport in private messages.

I'm surprised that there hasn't been an increase in discipline since at least 2015 related to hate-speech.  And, that's not even getting into the stuff that is said on the court as "trash talk", which I would guarantee includes plenty of slurs, homophobic and otherwise.

[celticsclay]

As with all off court things, the league shouldn't do anything, but they will.  This should be up to the Wolves.  I'd make him go to sensitivity training and maybe donate whatever I'd fine him to organizations designed to combat this sort of hate.

I cant say I understand this argument at all. You realize basically any company in America, if you are caught doing something off the clock on social media the company has the right to fire or punish you for it because it hurts the companies reputation/financially?  People are caught saying the n word or other slurs on camera and if it reaches the company they are punished and sometimes terminated for it. I don’t know how someone isn’t aware this can happen in 2022 but hope everyone on this thread is now aware. I personally watched hundreds of people get punished for off the clock, or court in this case, working for a large company in social media for 6 years. Most of the time it was just a warning but in a particularly egregious case at least one employee was fired. Many white collar jobs now require special media training and have specific clauses and policies around this kind of stuff. Thinking you can be filmed doing stuff or say certain things online without any repercussions from your employer ( if you are identifiable) is just not how the world works.

[slamtheking]

saw the title and thought, why would this guy be using anti-gay slurs?  must be a generational thing