The San Antonio Spurs knocked the Minnesota Timberwolves out of the playoffs with a 139-109 win in Game 6 of the Western Conference Semifinals at Target Center on Friday. With the Timberwolves getting blown out, Anthony Edwards interestingly chose to go over to the Spurs bench to congratulate the players and stuff when there were 8:01 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Stan Van Gundy was commentating on his game for Prime and stated he wanted to hear what Udonis Haslem has to say about it. Well, the NBA Nightcap crew was asked about it, and Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing.
“I’ve watched the NBA and been a part of [it] for a long, long time,” Nowitzki said, via New York Basketball. “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. That was a little strange for me.”
Blake Griffin said he had never seen this before either. Griffin understands Edwards wanting to show respect, but he’d like to see that done after the game. Haslem was of the same opinion as well.
“As great as Ant is as a basketball player, there is still some growth for him as well,” Haslem said. “Because as a leader… I would not have walked down there and shook their hand with eight minutes left in the game. As a leader of my troops and my guys, I would not have showed that weakness. The game is not over. I got eight minutes left. I still got smoke coming out of my ears, because I’m so damn mad that we losing.
“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,” Haslem continued. “But in the middle of the game? When I got guys that have sat on the bench and cheered me on? No, I’m going to sit there and cheer those guys on. I’mma put that energy back into those guys, and then when the game is over, I’ll go over there and shake their hands.
“That’s just the way I handle things,” Haslem added. “I’m a little bit different, I’m a little bit old school. I understand there’s a different generation, but I don’t think if they would beat San Antonio, [Victor Wembanyama] would have went down there and shook his hand with eight minutes to go… I damn sure know Wemby wouldn’t have went down there and shook his hand.”
Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama definitely wouldn’t have. This isn’t about old school or whatnot, as almost no one in the NBA today would have done such a thing. Here is Edwards dapping up the Spurs’ players and coaching staff in case you missed it.
Classy move from Ant during Game 6 👏
He dapped up the whole Spurs team with 8 minutes left 🤝 pic.twitter.com/jjOA7m7c38
— NBA on Prime (@NBAonPrime) May 16, 2026
As to why he did it, Edwards had a rather simple explanation in his postgame press conference.
“At that point, you know you ain’t going back in, so you’re just trying to get them the respect that they deserve,” Edwards said, via the Timberwolves.
Well, this isn’t the first time in NBA history that the starters have been pulled early in an elimination game because a team is getting blown out. None of the players on all those teams did what the four-time All-Star did here.
This is not something Edwards should be killed for, but it’s just not a great look. He’ll probably realize that at some point.
As for Edwards’ play, he finished the night with 24 points (9-26 FG), two rebounds, two assists, and three steals. The 24-year-old wasn’t fully healthy, but still gave his all out there on the court and deserves credit for that.
