Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards apologizes for homophobic comments in Instagram video

Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards apologized Sunday after he posted to his Instagram account a video in which he made homophobic comments directed toward the LGBTQ+ community.

The video was deleted from Edwards' Instagram story, but Edwards acknowledged what he posted and that he was speaking in the video, which went viral on Twitter on Sunday afternoon.

"What I said was immature, hurtful, and disrespectful, and I'm incredibly sorry," Edwards said in a tweet. "It's unacceptable for me or anyone to use that language in such a hurtful way, there's no excuse for it, at all. I was raised better than that!"

In the video, Edwards is in a car at night and uses his phone to zoom in on a group of people on a nearby sidewalk. Edwards comments on what he assumes is their sexual orientation from the way they were dressed, using the word "queer" as he does.

He then said, "Look what the world done came to, bruh," as a woman's voice laughs in the background.

Even though Edwards deleted the video, users on Twitter recorded it and it made its way around the platform, prompting the response from Edwards.

Edwards, 21, could be subject to league discipline in the form of a fine or suspension. Past punishments for such remarks have usually been fines.

The league fined Denver center Nikola Jokic $25,000 for a homophobic remark he made in 2018. It fined Brooklyn forward Kevin Durant $50,000 in 2021 for homophobic comments he made. Then-Sacramento guard Rajon Rondo was suspended a game in 2015 for directing homophobic comments toward an official.

Edwards figures to be an important part of the Wolves' upcoming season after averaging 21.3 points per game a season ago. The team will have high expectations after adding center Rudy Gobert in a trade with the Utah Jazz. Edwards will be entering his third NBA season with the Wolves set to begin training camp in two weeks.