The term 'basketball lifer' gets thrown loosely sometimes, but when you literally spend 35 years around the game, the title is rightfully deserved. That's why you'd be wise to listen when longtime Marquette basketball head coach Tom Crean speaks about the state of the game.
The 60-year-old former coach at Marquette, Indiana and Georgia has transitioned from the sidelines to media, appearing as an analyst on ESPN's college basketball coverage. For Milwaukee Bucks fans, you might be familiar with his TV work as he joined the FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin broadcast team ahead of the 2025-26 season.
One of the last great feats of his coaching career was working with NBA superstar Anthony Edwards in his lone collegiate season in Georgia. The two built a close working relationship in that time, leading Crean to his recent defense of Edwards' All-NBA case on Twitter.
Crean is not speaking on behalf of Timberwolves fans, even though he has built a relationship with the fanbase as a TV analyst covering their games. He's speaking on behalf of anyone who loves the game and cares about the way its history is preserved. The former Marquette coach, who led the program to the Final Four with Dwyane Wade and Steve Novak in 2003, is speaking to a much larger issue that could undermine the history of this great game.
Tom Crean lays out a perfect example of why the NBA needs to be flexible on its 65-game rule for awards consideration.
In taking to Twitter, Crean blasted the NBA for omitting Edwards with the following comments:
"Just an absolute JOKE [Anthony Edwards] didn’t get a [waiver] to be eligible for honors this year. Anthony epitomizes WANTING to play. Doing what it takes to play. He doesn’t take 'personal' days. He shows up. He brings it. He missed some for injury. He didn’t miss [games for] convenience."
Not only do All-NBA Teams and end-of-season awards have major implications on the psyche and earning potential of NBA players, but they're also a historically significant tool to share the story of each NBA season. Can you tell the story of the 2025-26 NBA season without Anthony Edwards?
No, not accurately. Edwards was the driving force behind a near 50-win team that reached the Western Conference Semifinals after two straight years in the Conference Finals. He averaged almost 29 points per game while playing high-level defense and nearly reaching the illustrious 50/40/90 club.
The most egregious part? Edwards participated in 61 games this season — only four appearances short of the NBA's threshold for awards consideration.
This wasn't a matter of laziness or load management. Edwards missed games with legitimate injuries, including right knee patellofemoral pain syndrome, known colloquially as 'Runner's Knee,' which plagued him all the way through the NBA Playoffs. He also missed games with hamstring and foot ailments, which he promptly returned from, knowing that it could very well lead to worse injuries later on down the line.
In addition to being the face of his franchise, Edwards' meteoric rise over the last several seasons asserted his place as one of the biggest basketball stars in the world. Often compared to Michael Jordan for being similarly cutthroat, unintentionally hilarious and for a playstyle reminiscent of the G.O.A.T., Edwards has cemented himself as one of the most important players in the entire sport, and erasing his legacy from the record books this season is a disservice to the game.
The 65-game rule itself isn't a bad idea — although I'd contend the threshold is too high. A 55-game benchmark, representing two-thirds of a season, is a better option to allow for injuries that need more time to heal. Nonetheless, Commissioner Adam Silver needs to ensure that the rule is enforced against those it was designed for: the teams and organizations withholding healthy players for tanking or load management purposes.
Edwards is the antithesis of that issue, playing through injury for much of the season to will his team back to a Western Conference Playoff bid that almost slipped out from their fingertips.
One way or another, the NBA will learn this hard lesson, but it's sad to see Edwards falling victim to circumstances beyond his control. At the end of the day, Tom Crean is right.
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