It’s not often that a win creates tensions in a team’s locker room. But that’s exactly what happened tonight after the Timberwolves beat the Hawks. That’s because Anthony Edwards and Co. almost blew a massive lead that could have cost them the game. And an agitated Chris Finch was clearly not pleased with the squad’s performance as he said post-game, “That’s a totally unacceptable second half of basketball… We come out here and we bullsh*t and it starts with our top guys.” Well, Ant-Man has responded to the head coach’s callout. But the fans are not having any of it!

Addressing his team’s disappointing performance, Edwards said, “I don’t think it was like we wasn’t taking them serious. We just couldn’t make nothing. They started making shots and they went on a run. They’re an NBA team.” Instead of taking the blame, the superstar forward credited the Hawks for putting up a fight and muscling a comeback in the second half.

However, Finch’s criticism might have been more about the overall season than just tonight. Obviously, the Wolves have failed to meet expectations as they are stuck at the seventh spot in the West standings.

Even though Edwards is averaging better numbers than last season at 26.3 points and nearly six rebounds, the team hasn’t coped well with Karl-Anthony Towns’ departure.

Ant-Man has frequently highlighted that he has had constant trouble fighting double teams, which was not a major concern with KAT on the squad. Even tonight, he had a terrible shooting night despite scoring 23 points, as he went six of twenty from the field. Moreover, this is not the first time Finch has called out the top guys. Just last month, he remarked that Edwards could be “more aggressive.” Turns out, the fans agree with the head coach and are not buying Ant’s excuse.

Wolves’ fans slam Anthony Edwards for showing “no effort” against Hawks

Despite Edwards’ statement, netizens were not pleased with his response and criticized him for tonight’s performance as comments like “Anthony the issue is YOU weren’t taking them serious man lmaoo” and “Ant you were showing no effort” began flooding in. With Trae Young out with a hamstring injury, the Wolves should never have let the Hawks come this close to making a comeback. But fans believe Ant-Man and others’ careless attitude might have led to that happening.

Moreover, Edwards’ defense was also in question as one wrote “I watched bro stand like a statue on defense the entire 3rd quarter” while another netizen said “Ant needs to stop getting cocky after making a bucket and get back to playing D.” Well, he was lackluster on defense tonight, especially in the second half, which was one of the reasons the Wolves got outscored by 11 points in the third quarter. Edwards also committed three turnovers on the night.

Apart from his performance, Ant’s mic skills were also under fire as a fan pointed out, “Ant needs a media handler. Clean up his interviews and speaking. It needs work.” Yes, Edwards’ off-court interviews have often been a cause for unnecessary distraction for his team. From cursing out officials to calling out his teammates, he has done it all in the last couple of months. And he has cumulated a $285,000 fine because of those antics. Sure enough, Edwards might need to clean up his act and focus strictly on hooping if he wants his team to contend for the title again. Otherwise, fans will continue to turn on him like they did tonight. Do you agree?