“I thought that it was bound to happen. … I just thought it got to a point where players were going to take matters into their own hands,” said Chris Finch in the aftermath of the recent Minnesota Timberwolves-Detroit Pistons matchup. If an example was ever needed to describe how quickly things can escalate sometimes, the NBA just gave it to the people. Naz Reid got fouled driving to the hoop. Donte DiVincenzo and Ron Holland II began shoving each other. And the Target Center dropped into chaos during the recent game’s second quarter. While 7 ejections were handed out during the game, such incidents were not forgotten with just a mere slap on the wrist. As anticipation rises over what long-term punishments the players and coaches could receive, Anthony Edwards put forth a suggestion.

The 23-year-old Timberwolves star participated in a Q&A session after the eventful game. The matchup marked the rare occasion when he wasn’t the team player who caused trouble and faced consequences. However, the brawl resulted in Naz Reid, Donte DiVincenzo, and Timberwolves assistant coach Pablo Prigioni getting ejected. Now, they’re in line to face further punishments. And ANT’s response to what should ideally be their punishments?

“I don’t think they should miss games on that. Maybe just some money,” he said. Well, if any fine is going to reach the same level of punishment as suspensions, it will have to be a big one.

But Anthony Edwards has a good reason for asking for fines, and not suspensions. After all, the Timberwolves only have 7 more games left to play in the regular season. With a 43-32 win record, the squad is immensely close to surpassing the Golden State Warriors (43-31) and the Memphis Grizzlies (44-30) for the 6th or 5th seed. If the T-Wolves don’t climb the standings, they’ll be stuck in NBA purgatory—the play-in.

Both Naz Reid and Donte DiVincenzo are essential components of the Timberwolves’ roster. Reid started in 17 of his 74 appearances this season, and averaged 14.4 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 2.3 assists in them. Meanwhile, DiVincenzo has averaged 11.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 3.8 assists throughout 56 games this season. Therefore, losing either of them at this point could prove harmful to the team’s playoff chances.

Anthony Edwards might not have suggested using fines if he had also gotten into trouble during the recent brawl. After all, according to Courtside Buzz, the player has reportedly lost a whopping $614,000. Just THIS SEASON!

All from the fines, technicals, and a 1-game suspension from earlier this month. His troubles began in mid-November when the NBA fined him for sticking out the middle finger toward a Kings fan. Later, in December, the league fined Edwards $25,000 “for using profane language during a media interview”. That same month, after losing to the Warriors, Edwards famously criticized the referees.

He stated, “They’re f***ing terrible”, and “That s*** was terrible”. He received a $75,000 fine “for public criticism of officiating and using inappropriate and profane language” with the media during the post-game period. That wasn’t all for December. Edwards’ usage of back-to-back cuss words at one point got him his biggest fine of the season: $100,000!

Someone like Anthony Edwards, who is playing under a 5-year, $244.623 million contract, would certainly choose fines over suspensions. At the end of the day, the 23-year-old can just ask for the league to be more lenient. The final decision will be, however, of the NBA itself. Judging from how the Timberwolves stars described the fight, no one wants to see the athletes get suspended.

Mike Conley and Chris Finch react to the Timberwolves-Pistons brawl: “I plead the fifth”

Since so many people got involved in the brawl, it was hard to keep track of who was where. Therefore, the location of his “vantage point” was amongst the questions asked to Mike Conley after the game. Jokingly, the starting point guard replied, “I plead the fifth”.

Later on, however, he added, “Heat of the moment, I didn’t really see how it started with Naz. You know, Donte got in the middle, and then everybody got sent into the stands, and [at] that point, I’m just trying to grab guys off and grab our guys at the bottom of the pile. And, you know, it’s like one of those football piles where you just don’t know what’s going on underneath. So, we just trying to break it up as fast as we could and, you know, prevent our guys from, you know, missing games and stuff like that”.

Despite the aggression, Conley added, “But, you know, it’s part of the game. It’s been a part of the game for a long time, the emotional part. And it happens. And I guess I’m happy with the way that we responded.” Well, one shouldn’t be if 2 players and an assistant head coach are on the verge of suspension!

Meanwhile, Chris Finch recalled the brawl by stating that the signs were noticeable early on. The head coach believed, “Obviously, it just kept escalating and escalating, mostly from their side, to be honest with you”. As for his assistant coach, Finch defended him by saying Prigioni was ejected after trying to talk to one of the officials about a player on the Pistons they felt routinely found himself in these sorts of situations. Bickerstaff reportedly took issue with this. The two exchanged words, which ultimately resulted in ejections for both.

“I didn’t see anything necessarily worthy of an ejection that (Prigioni) did,” Finch said. Both Timberwolves and Pistons fans will be keeping their eyes and ears peeled to see what decision the league finally makes. For Anthony Edwards’ sake, one hopes that it is just a big hefty fine.