Some injuries happen because of a player’s anatomy and internal risk factors. Some injuries happen because of an unfortunate interaction between two players on the court. And some injuries, sadly, are just plain old bad luck. That could have been the case for Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards, who left Minnesota’s game against the Brooklyn Nets Thursday with what initially seemed like one of the unluckiest injuries you’ll ever see.
The moment came with a bit less than four minutes remaining in the second quarter. Edwards rebounded a missed 3-pointer by Julius Randle and hoisted up a 3-pointer of his own. It went in, but as Edwards stepped back after the shot, he stepped backwards onto the foot of Nets coach Jordi Fernandez. He was helped off of the court and into the locker room from there as the Timberwolves and Nets finished the first half.
Fortunately for Minnesota, Edwards avoided a potentially serious injury as he returned to the floor with the team for the start of the second half. In a 105-90 Minnesota win, Edwards finished with 28 points on 10 of 15 shooting in 32 minutes.
After the game, Fernandez said he was still trying to move out of Edwards’ way, but wasn’t quite fast enough.
“I was out of bounds trying to move out of the way. Definitely gotta be faster than that because players’ health is the most important thing in the game,” Fernandez said via SNY. “Next time I just got to move faster.”
Edwards, who has missed only 19 games in his career, has been one of the NBA’s most durable players since reaching the league in 2020. He is in the middle of his best season as a professional. He is averaging a career-high 27.3 points per game while carrying the Timberwolves in the wake of their controversial decision to trade Karl-Anthony Towns last offseason.
Now 45-32, the Timberwolves are tied with Memphis Grizzlies for the No. 6 seed and are a half-game ahead of the Los Angeles Clippers for the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference. They are fortunate that Edwards seems to have come out on the other side of his collision with Fernandez unscathed.
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