NBA star Anthony Edwards is being criticized for showing ‘weakness’ in the final minutes of his 2025-26 season by shaking hands with the opposition with an abundance of time left.
The Minnesota Timberwolves were down 33 points with about eight minutes remining in the fourth quarter to the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night and Edwards had checked out for the final time in the evening.
Rather than just sitting down on the bench with his teammates, Edwards took the extra step of going over to the Spurs’ entire team and shaking hands with staff and players, one by one.
To do this when the game ends is normal, even celebrated in the NBA. But for a player to take this step with more than half of a quarter remaining was a stunning decision.
It took the postgame crew of the ‘NBA on Prime’ off-guard, leading to their criticism of Edwards.
The cast of Dirk Nowitzki, Blake Griffin, Udonis Haslem and Steve Nash all found Edwards’ behavior odd.
Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards was criticized for shaking hands of opponents early
Edwards went over to the Spurs bench and shook hands with 8:00 left in the game
‘As a leader, I would not have walked down there and shook their hands,’ Haslem said. ‘As a leader of my troops and my guys, I would not have shown that weakness.
‘The game is not over. I’ve got eight minutes left. I still got smoke coming out my ears. … Let me calm down for those eight minutes since I’m not in, and then after those eight minutes, I’ll go down there, and I’ll congratulate them and their coaching staff.
‘In the middle of the game, when I got guys that have sat on the bench and cheered me on (going into the game for garbage time)? No, I’m gonna sit there and cheer those guys on. I’m gonna put that energy back into those guys, and then when the game is over, I’ll go over there and shake their hand.’
Nowitzki, a Basketball Hall of Famer, said, ‘I’ve watched the NBA and been a part of it for a long, long time. I’ve never seen this.
‘A guy walking into the huddle with eight minutes to go in the fourth quarter and dapping up the entire team? Too much for me. Obviously, you can do that after the game and show plenty of respect.’
Griffin agreed by saying, ‘I’ve never seen that before.’
After the game, Edwards told reporters that he made the move because he knew he was finished for the night.
‘At that point, you know you ain’t going back in, so you’re just trying to get them respect they deserve,’ he said.
