Fans were caught a little bit by surprise when the Minnesota Timberwolves, despite not listing Anthony Edwards on the injury report, were without their star man to start their Monday night tussle against the Portland Trail Blazers. In Edwards' place, Nickeil Alexander-Walker started, much to the concern of Timberwolves fans. However, it didn't take long for Edwards to get on the court, as he checked in after 35 seconds of game time.

A report later came out that Edwards missed the opening tip and was late to the proceedings because he took way too long in doing resistance band work outside the locker room. As a result, the officials penalized the Timberwolves and called them for a delay of game violation.

“I lost track of time,” Edwards said, via ESPN.

It's not quite clear why there wasn't a Timberwolves staffer who kept tabs on Anthony Edwards prior to tip-off; if Edwards usually incorporates this behavior as part of his pregame routine, then certainly the potential for this tardiness to happen was there.

Now, the responsibility is on Edwards as well to realize that, as arguably the Timberwolves' best player, he has to be more mindful of these sorts of things. Surely this is something Edwards and the Timberwolves can laugh at somewhere down the line, but at present, the team needs him to be a better example, especially when he's assuming a bigger role on the team.

It simply has been a rough go as of late for Anthony Edwards, and fans let him hear about it. This punctuality issue only compounds the fact that he hasn't been at his best on the hardwood as of late, which Chris Finch chalked up to Edwards' lack of aggressiveness, and that he's now dealing with a right elbow contusion that may not have kept him out for long, but will still be a concern for Minnesota moving forward.

Perhaps Edwards is going through a bit of an emotional ordeal at the moment, as he had to leave at halftime of the Timberwolves' March 1 clash against the Sacramento Kings due to the birth of his child.