Stars, they’re just like us.
Anthony Edwards, 24, was set to make his triumphant return to the Minnesota Timberwolves‘ starting lineup against the Dallas Mavericks in Dallas on Monday night.
But Edwards’ return was unexpectedly delayed for a minute.
Instead of taking the floor with the starting five, Edwards trotted out off the bench and substituted in for Mike Conley with 10:59 remaining in the first quarter. Only missing one minute is negligible, but the reason behind it is hilarious.
After the T-Wolves won, 124-94, The Athletic‘s Jon Krawcyznski asked head coach Chris Finch why Edwards didn’t start as previously announced. “Nature calls, I guess,” Finch said.
Edwards was more blunt, telling Krawcynski, “I was taking a [expletive].”
Once Edwards made it into the game, he scored 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the floor (2-of-3 from three), dished out four assists, and collected two rebounds in 23 minutes.
“Ant was awesome, man,” Finch said about Edwards, per Krawcyznski. “His defense was outstanding. Just let the game come to him. Stayed aggressive. Made quicker decisions. And things looked kind of easy for him as a result.”
Edwards had been sidelined since March 15 and missed six games with what was officially termed as right knee soreness. This season, the two-time All-NBA and four-time All-Star guard has averaged 29.5 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.4 steals across 58 games for the 46-29 Timberwolves.
As of this writing, Minnesota is the fifth seed in the Western Conference, but only narrowly. The 45-29 Houston Rockets loom a half-game behind in the No. 6 spot, which makes the Rockets-Wolves game on April 10 very important. The NBA playoffs start on April 18.
Minnesota lost the Western Conference Finals to the Dallas Mavericks in 2024 and to the eventual champion Oklahoma City Thunder last year.
The Timberwolves will need Edwards down the stretch if they want any chance of finally slaying those demons, even if he’s a few minutes late.