NEW YORK, USA (AP) — Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards was fined US$40,000 ($6.3 million) by the National Basketball Association (NBA) yesterday for homophobic comments he made on social media.

The league announced the punishment for Edwards’ use of “offensive and derogatory language” in a since-deleted Instagram video he later apologised for.

Edwards recorded a group of men on a sidewalk from a vehicle he was inside and could be heard making a disparaging, profane comment about what he assumed to be their sexual orientation. He posted an apology on Twitter soon after, and the Timberwolves issued a statement reprimanding their young star.

“What I said was immature, hurtful, and disrespectful, and I’m incredibly sorry. It’s unacceptable for me or anyone to use that language in such a hurtful way,” Edwards tweeted last week. “There’s no excuse for it, at all. I was raised better than that!”

Nikola Jokic, Kevin Durant, Rajon Rondo, and Kobe Bryant are among the NBA players who’ve been disciplined by the league in the past for anti-gay language.

The first overall pick in the 2020 draft, Edwards was Minnesota’s second-leading scorer last season with an average of 21.3 points per game that ranked 19th in the league. His average of 1.5 steals per game was 13th in the NBA.