Anthony Edwards says Mark Cuban caused him to change his FT routine

Anthony Edwards had to change his free throw routine because a billionaire got involved.

In September, Dallas Mavericks minority owner Mark Cuban went on a podcast and called out Edwards for illegally stepping over the line after shooting free throws — or, perhaps more accurately, he called out the referees for letting it happen.

"Watch Anthony Edwards when he takes a free throw shot," Cuban said. "Every single time he steps over the line. Every time."

Cuban's influence is strong enough that the officials seem to have taken note this season. And as a result, Edwards has changed his free throw routine in order to not commit violations, which he humorously commented on after scoring 39 points in Saturday's win over the Boston Celtics.

"Some famous guy went on Instagram or went on a podcast and was talking about my free throws and he brought it to the attention of everybody so I had to change it," Edwards said. "Now the refs be like 'You can't step over the line,' so I had to change my whole (thing). I think it was the dude who used to be the owner of the Mavs. Mark Cuban."

It hasn't exactly seemed to affect Edwards much. He made 10 of 11 free throws against the Celtics and is shooting 82 percent from the line this season. That's down very slightly from the last couple seasons, when he was closer to 84 percent, but is still up from his career mark of 80.

"I'm tryna get used to my new free throws," Edwards said. "I mean, it's no excuse, I gotta make 'em. ... It's hard, but as much as I be in the gym, it shouldn't be that hard. I try to shoot like 200 free throws a day. I gotta get comfortable with it."

The locker room video of Edwards talking about his free-throw adjustment went somewhat viral, and Cuban responded.

"This has nothing to do with Ant," Cuban said. "It was the fact that NBA officials chose not to make an easy call. That's the issue. It's not Adam Silver telling them what to call or not. They just decide themselves. I brought it up to the head of officials when we played the (Timberwolves) in the playoffs 2 years ago. When Ant hit game winning FTs against us, and obviously stepped over the line. The people in charge of the refs ignored it. They also ignored it in the L2M report. (Something they do a lot of). But if you speak about it on NBA podcasts, that changes their behavior."

This has nothing to do with Ant. It was the fact that @NBAOfficial s chose not to make an easy call.

That's the issue. It's not Adam Silver telling them what to call or not. They just decide themselves.

I brought it up to the head of officials when we played the twolves… https://t.co/j2aPpXofiL
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) November 30, 2025

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