ATLANTA (AP) — For the second time in one week, Anthony Edwards didn't stick around for the end of the Minnesota Timberwolves' game.
This time, the exit was his decision.
Edwards left the Minnesota bench and the court during a timeout late in the Timberwolves' 126-102 loss at the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday.
The unplanned and unapproved exit of the Minnesota star came during a timeout with 7 minutes, 52 seconds remaining. Edwards apparently disagreed with coach Chris Finch pulling his starters with the Hawks leading 109-80. Edwards tossed his towel and left the bench.
Edwards did not speak with reporters after the game. Finch told reporters after the game the star known as “Ant-Man” should have remained on the bench.
“Obviously frustrated with the performance and rightfully so, but he needs to stay out on the floor and root for his team,” Finch said.
Edwards led the team with 30 points while making 10 of 18 shots, including three 3-pointers, in 33 minutes.
The high-scoring guard began the night ranking eighth in the NBA with his average of 29.1 points per game. He was ejected in overtime of the Timberwolves' 142-138 loss at Denver on Thursday. He scored 44 points before the ejection for arguing foul calls.
Edwards, an Atlanta native and former University of Georgia star, had friends and family, including his grandfather, at Wednesday's game.
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Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch reacts during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Atlanta Hawks, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)
Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) shoots during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Atlanta Hawks, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)
Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) shoots over Atlanta Hawks guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)
The Trump administration has said it is freezing child care funds to all states until they provide more verification about the programs in a move fueled by a series of fraud schemes at Minnesota day care centers run by Somali residents.
All 50 states will be impacted by the review, but the Republican administration is focusing most of its ire on the blue state of Minnesota and is calling for an audit of some of its centers.
Minnesota Democratic Attorney General Keith Ellison said in a statement Wednesday that he was “exploring all our legal options to ensure that critical childcare services do not get abruptly slashed based on pretext and grandstanding.”
It is unclear how much more robust the verification process for states will be than it already has been.
Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services Jim O’Neill called the decision a response to “blatant fraud that appears to be rampant in Minnesota and across the country” in a social media post announcing the change on Tuesday.
Here are some things to know about these moves:
All 50 states will have to provide additional levels of verification and administrative data before they receive more funding from the Child Care and Development Fund, according to a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson. However, Minnesota will have to provide even more verification for child care centers that are suspected of fraud, such as attendance and licensing records, past enforcement actions and inspection reports.
In his social media post on Tuesday, O’Neill said all Administration for Children and Families payments nationwide would require “justification and a receipt or photo evidence” before money is sent, but the HHS spokesperson said Wednesday that the additional verifications only apply to CCDF payments.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee, said in a social media post that fraudsters are a serious issue that the state has spent years cracking down on but that this is a political move that is part of “Trump’s long game.”
State Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy condemned the move in a statement Wednesday.
“Republicans are playing sick games and winning devastating prizes,” Murphy said. “And now, tens of thousands of Minnesota families will pay the price as Donald’s Trump’s agents strip away crucial funding.”
The administration launched efforts in recent weeks to track down fraud in other programs in Minnesota and is looking at fraud in blue states such as California and New York, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in an interview with “Fox & Friends” on Wednesday.
The administration will continue to send officers to investigate “potential fraud sites” in Minnesota and deport undocumented immigrants, Leavitt said, adding that the Department of Homeland Security is considering plans to denaturalize citizens.
The Department of Labor is also investigating the state’s unemployment insurance program, Leavitt said. The administration this month threatened to withhold SNAP food aid funding from Democratic-controlled states, including Minnesota, unless they provide information about people receiving assistance.
The announcement came a day after U.S. Homeland Security officials conducted a fraud investigation in Minneapolis, questioning workers at unidentified businesses. Trump has criticized Walz’s administration over the cases, capitalizing on them to target the Somali diaspora in the state, which has the largest Somali population in the U.S.
In his post Tuesday, O’Neill, who is serving as acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, referenced a right-wing influencer who posted a video last week claiming he found that day care centers operated by Somali residents in Minneapolis had committed up to $100 million in fraud.
Meanwhile, there are concerns about harassment that home-based day care providers and members of the Somali community nationwide might face amid the vitriol, including Trump's comments earlier this month referring to Somali immigrants as “garbage." Washington state Attorney General Nick Brown released a statement saying, “Showing up on someone’s porch, threatening, or harassing them isn’t an investigation. Neither is filming minors who may be in the home.”
Maria Snider, director of the Rainbow Child Development Center and vice president of advocacy group Minnesota Child Care Association, said fear is rising among both families — many of which are living paycheck to paycheck — and child care centers that rely on the federal funding. Without child care system tuition, centers may have to lay off teachers and shut down classrooms, she said.
The Administration for Children and Families provides $185 million in child care funds annually to Minnesota, according to Assistant Secretary Alex Adams.
In Minnesota, the application process for the funding is complex and multilayered, Snider said. Her own child care center has been subjected to random audits, she said, and all centers are required to submit to licensing visits by officials.
“I don’t know what else I would provide,” she said.
Ahmed Hasan, director of the ABC Learning Center that was one of those featured in the video by the right-wing influencer, said on Wednesday that there were 56 children enrolled at the center. Since the video was posted, Hasan, who is Somali, said his center has received harassing phone calls making staff members and parents feel unsafe.
He said the center is routinely subject to checks by state regulators to ensure they remain in compliance with their license.
“There’s no fraud happening here,” Hasan told The Associated Press. “We are open every day, and we have our records to show that this place is open.”
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Kramon reported from Atlanta and Brumfield reported from Cockeysville, Maryland. AP Videojournalist Mark Vancleave contributed from Minneapolis, Minnesota, and AP Writer Margery Beck contributed from Omaha, Nebraska.
CORRECTS LAST NAME ABC Learning Center director Ahmed Hasan stands in the infant room at his daycare center, in Minneapolis, Minn., on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Vancleave)
People gather for a news conference at the state capitol in St. Paul, Minn., on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP Giovanna Dell'Orto)
ABC Learning Center director Ahmed Hasin stands in the infant room at his daycare center in Minneapolis, Minn., on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Vancleave)
Children watch television at ABC Learning Center in Minneapolis, Minn., on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Vancleave)
FILE - Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks during a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing, June 12, 2025, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)
FILE - State Sen. Michelle Benson reacts at a news conference on Wednesday, April 10, 2019 at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul to a report by the state's legislative auditor on combatting fraud in Minnesota's Child Care Assistance Program. (AP Photo/Steve Karnowski,File)
