Anthony Edwards makes a pretty big mistake

[Lipoli390]

If nothing else... it was really really dumb for the Edwards brand.

21 or 31, it doesn't really matter in today's game. Every young athlete is now a brand, especially with their ability to make tens of millions off the court. And we can't really claim that Edwards doesn't give an F about his brand... otherwise, he wouldn't be on Instagram in the first place.

Most of today's young stars are super media/money/brand savvy compared to the players of yesteryear, in large part because of that giant pile of money available to them.

Play nice. Post the edited workout videos. Say funny things online. Rinse, repeat. Get insanely rich. Take shots at random people for no apparent reason and you open yourself for criticism. It was a knucklehead move. And at one time, some of us were worried if Edwards was a knucklehead. Don't be a knucklehead.

Obviously this will all blow over with time. But the absurd stupidity of it should be noted.

Yep. Dumb is the operative word here. I'm not sure Edwards quite understands yet that he's a brand and what that means. I think he's on instagram because, like so many in his generation (not just professional athletes), he likes to be seen and heard on social media. This episode should wake him up to the fact that there's a higher standard of sensitivity and decorum that comes with being a professional athlete, especially one with his notoriety. It goes with the territory - part of being a celebrity.

As you noted, he opened himself up to criticism. That's entirely on him. He shouldn't be cancelled or suspended. But he should expect criticism from many in the public domain and a fine from the NBA. Hopefully he'll learn from this. He'd be wise to follow your advice, Abe: Don't be a knucklehead!

[Leado01]

This will be forgotten by most people in a few months.

The irony is that most youth understand that what they say and post is permanent. It's the adults usually that struggle with that concept

[Lipoli390]

This will be forgotten by most people in a few months.

The irony is that most youth understand that what they say and post is permanent. It's the adults usually that struggle with that concept

Permanence isn't really the issue. It's the failure by many to fully appreciate what it means to post things that will be seen by thousands or millions outside their own social circles. They post things that would be taken as perfectly acceptable, funny or important by the like-minded people they hang with or communicate with regularly, but they fail to understand or even think about how those things might be perceived by thousands of people outside their own circle. I suspect that tendency is, in part, a function of youth, but not entirely.

[60WinTim]

This is all part of humanity becoming the Borg. It is inevitable. Resistance is futile... :-(

[TheFuture]

If nothing else... it was really really dumb for the Edwards brand.

21 or 31, it doesn't really matter in today's game. Every young athlete is now a brand, especially with their ability to make tens of millions off the court. And we can't really claim that Edwards doesn't give an F about his brand... otherwise, he wouldn't be on Instagram in the first place.

Most of today's young stars are super media/money/brand savvy compared to the players of yesteryear, in large part because of that giant pile of money available to them.

Play nice. Post the edited workout videos. Say funny things online. Rinse, repeat. Get insanely rich. Take shots at random people for no apparent reason and you open yourself for criticism. It was a knucklehead move. And at one time, some of us were worried if Edwards was a knucklehead. Don't be a knucklehead.

Obviously this will all blow over with time. But the absurd stupidity of it should be noted.

Agree with everything you posted here

Be a robot for marketing purposes. Thou shall have no ideas or feelings of their own. Everybody here was likely excellent at that at 21. I do not care if you are gay, your business. I will just start calling everybody straightphobic+xxcl.

[Porckchop]

I look forward to Souhans scathing article denouncing Edwards. Probably calling for his head on a stick. Jim's such a pretentious twat waffle.

[kekgeek]

If nothing else... it was really really dumb for the Edwards brand.

21 or 31, it doesn't really matter in today's game. Every young athlete is now a brand, especially with their ability to make tens of millions off the court. And we can't really claim that Edwards doesn't give an F about his brand... otherwise, he wouldn't be on Instagram in the first place.

Most of today's young stars are super media/money/brand savvy compared to the players of yesteryear, in large part because of that giant pile of money available to them.

Play nice. Post the edited workout videos. Say funny things online. Rinse, repeat. Get insanely rich. Take shots at random people for no apparent reason and you open yourself for criticism. It was a knucklehead move. And at one time, some of us were worried if Edwards was a knucklehead. Don't be a knucklehead.

Obviously this will all blow over with time. But the absurd stupidity of it should be noted.

Agree with everything you posted here

Be a robot for marketing purposes. Thou shall have no ideas or feelings of their own. Everybody here was likely excellent at that at 21. I do not care if you are gay, your business. I will just start calling everybody straightphobic+xxcl.

Ant doesn't have to participate in LBGTQ events, he doesn't have to participate in pride marketing. Yes I can think that but also think he was a dumbass to think it was ok to stop his car, take out his phone, video tape people who weren't bothering him and say "these Q**** ass N****** what is this world coming to" and post it to his instagram. I don't think Ant should be canceled, yes I wish instead of outrage these moments can be used more as a teaching moment for people instead of canceling them. But I also expect the franchise superstar to be smarter than posting homophopic rhetoric on his Instagram. I don't think that is to much to ask.

[Crazysauce]

There was nothing offensive said by Edwards. If I think somebody looks ridiculous and I say it and the said person happens to be be gay it doesn't make a person homophobic. People get made fun of every day. The outfits they were wearing were obnoxious and ridiculous and attention seeking. This shit is annoying as hell.

Speaking of this, walking to our car for the vikings game a guy was walking across the exit of a parking lot when a truck pulled out in front of him. Said guy walking gets upset he now needs to walk around truck and slaps back of truck. Guy in truck is black and immediately yells at the guy saying he only hit his truck because he's black. They both looked like total dumbasses. Shits gotta stop. Everything that happens isn't racist or culturally insensitive.

[TheFuture]

If nothing else... it was really really dumb for the Edwards brand.

21 or 31, it doesn't really matter in today's game. Every young athlete is now a brand, especially with their ability to make tens of millions off the court. And we can't really claim that Edwards doesn't give an F about his brand... otherwise, he wouldn't be on Instagram in the first place.

Most of today's young stars are super media/money/brand savvy compared to the players of yesteryear, in large part because of that giant pile of money available to them.

Play nice. Post the edited workout videos. Say funny things online. Rinse, repeat. Get insanely rich. Take shots at random people for no apparent reason and you open yourself for criticism. It was a knucklehead move. And at one time, some of us were worried if Edwards was a knucklehead. Don't be a knucklehead.

Obviously this will all blow over with time. But the absurd stupidity of it should be noted.

Agree with everything you posted here

Be a robot for marketing purposes. Thou shall have no ideas or feelings of their own. Everybody here was likely excellent at that at 21. I do not care if you are gay, your business. I will just start calling everybody straightphobic+xxcl.

Ant doesn't have to participate in LBGTQ events, he doesn't have to participate in pride marketing. Yes I can think that but also think he was a dumbass to think it was ok to stop his car, take out his phone, video tape people who weren't bothering him and say "these Q**** ass N****** what is this world coming to" and post it to his instagram. I don't think Ant should be canceled, yes I wish instead of outrage these moments can be used more as a teaching moment for people instead of canceling them. But I also expect the franchise superstar to be smarter than posting homophopic rhetoric on his Instagram. I don't think that is to much to ask.

But now he will have to participate in those events to save face for marketing purposes. Because a fraction of the population is dictating such.

This is nothing.

But it will likely be something.

A guy saw a group of guys and made a comment. So what.

[kekgeek]

If nothing else... it was really really dumb for the Edwards brand.

21 or 31, it doesn't really matter in today's game. Every young athlete is now a brand, especially with their ability to make tens of millions off the court. And we can't really claim that Edwards doesn't give an F about his brand... otherwise, he wouldn't be on Instagram in the first place.

Most of today's young stars are super media/money/brand savvy compared to the players of yesteryear, in large part because of that giant pile of money available to them.

Play nice. Post the edited workout videos. Say funny things online. Rinse, repeat. Get insanely rich. Take shots at random people for no apparent reason and you open yourself for criticism. It was a knucklehead move. And at one time, some of us were worried if Edwards was a knucklehead. Don't be a knucklehead.

Obviously this will all blow over with time. But the absurd stupidity of it should be noted.

Agree with everything you posted here

Be a robot for marketing purposes. Thou shall have no ideas or feelings of their own. Everybody here was likely excellent at that at 21. I do not care if you are gay, your business. I will just start calling everybody straightphobic+xxcl.

Ant doesn't have to participate in LBGTQ events, he doesn't have to participate in pride marketing. Yes I can think that but also think he was a dumbass to think it was ok to stop his car, take out his phone, video tape people who weren't bothering him and say "these Q**** ass N****** what is this world coming to" and post it to his instagram. I don't think Ant should be canceled, yes I wish instead of outrage these moments can be used more as a teaching moment for people instead of canceling them. But I also expect the franchise superstar to be smarter than posting homophopic rhetoric on his Instagram. I don't think that is to much to ask.

But now he will have to participate in those events to save face for marketing purposes. Because a fraction of the population is dictating such.

This is nothing.

But it will likely be something.

A guy saw a group of guys and made a comment. So what.

But he is the reason why he will more than likely have to participate in these events this upcoming year. All he had to do is not stop his car, take out his phone, video the men in not culturally approved outfits and post homophobic rhetoric on his instagram. He could of done the same thing and kept his thoughts to himself and he would of been fine. At the end of the day Anthony Edwards works for 2 entities in the NBA and Minnesota Timberwolves. Yes, the main part of Ant job is to dribble a basketball, score a lot of points and help the timberwolves win basketball games. The other part is to help with marketing and the brand of the 2 entities he works for. That is why he has to talk to the media after games, that is why the timberwolves do the Christmas charity drive with underprivileged kids (yes I believe they do this out of the kindness of their heart but it is great positive marketing.). Ant decided to make a comment about a group of assumed gay men. So the NBA and Timberwolves as his employer have to make sure they don't isolate a section of the Minnesota population (what is a larger than normal population in the cities) that would affect their profits. Yes some of it is "playing the game" but don't have your franchise superstar be stupid and possibly affect your employers bottom line and you wouldn't have to participate in LBGTQ events. This is on Ant for his decision.

One last thing this doesn't seem like nothing to you because the words Ant said don't have any meaning behind them for you because of your life experiences, what I completely understand. With this example I promise I am not trying to make it personal just using it as an example. If your daughter (Have no idea if you have kids) was walking down the street of Alanta and Anthony Edwards did the exact same thing he did to these men but posted about your daughter saying Slut Ass N****** she can get it" would you have the same response?

I want to say again, this will blow over, Ant could of done things so much worse, still think Ant is a generally good dude and made a mistake and hopefully he learns from it but I am going to defend the LGBTQ community in circumstances like this because I know what my buddy goes through on a day to day basis just because he is gay and the comments he receives because he dresses a little different than the cultural norm.