Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images
There was no reason to believe Anthony Edwards wouldn’t be in the starting lineup for the Timberwolves when they faced off against the Mavericks on Monday. However, he was nowhere to be found when the game got underway, and he got very candid about the issue that forced him to come off the bench for just the second time since he earned a role as a starter.
There are plenty of expectations that come with being the top overall pick in the NBA Draft, and Anthony Edwards has more than lived up to them since the Timberwolves used the first selection to scoop him up in 2020 after his one-and-done season at Georgia.
In doing so, Minnesota landed a point guard who’s made the All-Star Team four years in a row after quickly emerging as one of the most electric young talents in the league.
Edwards came off the bench for the first 17 games of his rookie season before getting his first start against the 76ers on January 29, 2021. Since then, he’d started in every single game he’d appeared in for the Timberwolves heading into Monday night’s showdown with the Mavericks in Dallas with the lone exception of a hiccup in 2024.
However, the streak has once again been reset after he ran into an issue he couldn’t ignore right before it was set to get underway.
Anthony Edwards missed a start because he had to rush to the bathroom right before a game got underway
Prior to Monday, Ant-Man was riding a stretch of 157 consecutive starts in games he’s played in, and all signs point to that number rising by one when he returned from the knee injury that had sidelined him for the past six games.
He was initially listed in the starting lineup, but things took an unexpected turn when Mike Conley took his place on the court for the opening tipoff. He stayed there for just over two minutes before Edwards checked in, and he did what he could to make up for lost time by posting 17 points in the 23 minutes he played during his team’s 124-94 win.
Most players have a well-defined pregame routine they rely on to get in the zone, and Edwards was locked into his when he lost track of time before the aforementioned start he missed in 2024.
However, his absence against the Mavs was the result of an unscheduled interruption, and Minnesota head coach Chris Finch alluded to the reason when he simply said, “Nature calls” when asked about what happened.
Edwards, on the other hand, decided to get slightly more graphic when he got the chance to dive into the specifics of his trip to the bathroom after the victory while crediting Conley for stepping up in his absence.
Anthony Edwards on why he didn’t start last night 💀
“I was taking a sh*t. Mike held it down for me”
(Via @Timberwolves YT) pic.twitter.com/Dz4xL2zJFk
— NBA Courtside (@NBA__Courtside) March 31, 2026
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