Anthony Edwards just can’t catch a break. Earlier this week, he vowed to no longer let his emotions get the better of him after he was fined $50,000 for making obscene gestures toward the referees during the Grizzlies clash. “That’s all me mentally making a dumb, young mistake and I won’t make it again.” He remarked. However, just days after his bold claim, Ant-Man is in deep waters once again because his latest actions have cost him another $3000. But this time, the hoop community is blaming the refs!

Yes, the incident occurred during tonight’s Knicks encounter. As the first half buzzer went off, Naz Reid slammed the ball on the floor before heading to the tunnel. And the rock went straight to Edwards’ hands. Unfortunately, Ant made a huge mistake and slammed the ball on the floor with even higher intensity, likely to see how much it bounces as he looked toward the ceiling. Sure enough, the official who was standing right next to him saw the act and immediately penalized him with a technical foul, making it his tenth of the season.

Obviously, bouncing the ball too hard or in an unsportsmanlike manner is against league rules. Moreover, the tenth technical means that Edwards will have to pay a $3000 fine. Yes, every tech from sixth to tenth comes with that penalty, and that number increases after every five counts. And once a player commits his 16 technical foul, he also gets a one-game suspension. So, Edwards needs to be extremely cautious going forward.

As expected, fans were not pleased with Ant getting T-d up for such a harmless act and they slammed the officials and the NBA with comments like “Anthony Edwards getting a tech for this is the exact problem with the NBA and it’s BEEN a problem for a while now.” And “Reason number 1001 why NBA ratings are down.”

Even Edwards looked stunned after the official’s call as he walked to the tunnel shaking his head in disbelief.

Fans accuse NBA of ‘Hating’ Anthony Edwards as Jalen Brunson gets caught ‘Snitching’

Well, this is not the first time this season Edwards’ actions have cost him money. In fact, apart from tonight’s upcoming penalty, he has lost $285,000 in fines for multiple instances of obscene gestures and curse words towards refs. But tonight’s tech made many wonder whether the league has a personal vendetta against him as one questioned, “Does the @NBA hate Anthony Edwards now?… Frustration wasn’t even directed at the refs.”

Sharing similar sentiment, another netizen wrote, “The NBA is trying to humble Anthony Edwards. They damn near give him a tech for being a competitive human being.” Of course, these claims cannot be proven because in the end, it was Ant-Man who made the mistake of bouncing the ball too hard. And players have been penalised for it in the past as well.

Amid the criticism for the officials, one netizen noticed a key detail during the incident, “Brunson snitched.” Yes, it was JB who immediately turned toward the official after Edwards bounced the ball. And he even made the gesture of a tech, adding salt to the Wolves star’s wounds.

Personal vendetta or not, Edwards definitely has a target on his back because of how many times he has violated league rules in the past two months. If he wants these problems to go away, he needs to stick to his promise and not make such “dumb” mistakes again. Do you agree?