One day after ICE’s bloody and shameful siege of Minneapolis claimed the life of Alex Pretti — a VA hospital nurse shot by border agents while pinned to the ground while multiple people watched and while they also recorded the entire scuffle in HD, adding yet another snuff film to the Trump administration’s IMDB — I came across two members of the hometown basketball team, who each, in their own way, discussed the value of prayer. One was from Anthony Edwards, star of the Minnesota Timberwolves, and, arguably, face of the NBA, pressed for his views in the locker room postgame after a Sunday game against the Golden State Warriors already delayed a day as a direct result of Pretti’s killing.
“Man I just love Minnesota, all the love and support they show me, so I’m behind them. I’m behind whatever they with,” Edwards said to the press scrum. “I don’t really have social media so I’m not in tune with everything. I’ve heard about the stuff going on.” He finished his thoughts by letting fans know that “me and my family are definitely praying for everyone.”
“Thoughts and prayers” and its variants often convey a casual dismissal of tragedy laced with the wound of a slur. I wasn’t surprised to find most fans online were unsatisfied with Edwards’ answer. Those I saw who offered a mild defense of Edwards stressed the difficulty of catching your breath to dissect a 36-point beat down in a postgame scrum, let alone an ethnic cleansing. Or, they cautioned against having a “We Got Ja Rule On The Phone” moment by keeping your expectations of moneyed celebrities low.
Neither explanation sat right with me. I don’t believe Ant’s fans wanted him to renegotiate the Department of Homeland Security budget, but for their favorite player to show he was just as angry about children in his city being snatched from their mothers. Other stars like Victor Wembanyama offered words I found more provocative and proximate to the mood of the moment, despite being thousands of miles away from Edwards’ backyard.
If Edwards’ off the cuff soundbites were parsed unfairly, he did himself no favors when, hours after he insisted he was relatively unaware of what was happening because he doesn’t “really have social media,” Ant tweeted a promo for his business ventures. A soon-to-be centimillionaire almost certainly has a team running social. But it’s still his name on that post. I understand wanting more from your neighbor, right now, something beyond dropping 30 a night.
Which brings me to Ant’s teammate, of sorts. Matt Moberg, the Wolves team’s chaplain since 2019, received viral attention for a statement posted on January 7 — a few weeks before Edwards’ remarks — that at face value, appeared to offer a radically different approach to prayer. The activist and clergyman whose job is, quite literally, to pray for everyone, shared his raw frustrations with the people who share his religion uttering empty incantations. The whole poem is worth sitting with, but a few of my favorite bars:
Courtesy of Matthew Moberg
If you’re a church posting
prayers for peace and unity today
while my city bleeds in the street,
miss me with that softness you only wear when it costs you nothing.
…
There is a kind of peace that only exists
because it refuses to tell the truth.
That peace is a lie.
And lies don’t grow anything worth saving.
Fighting words. Again, Moberg posted his statement weeks before Pretti’s shooting and Edwards’ response. I cannot emphasize enough: Ant’s chaplain wasn't sliming him on Instagram. But, despite frequently wrestling on the page with what we can and should expect from athletes, I admit to reflexively juxtaposing Edwards and Moberg’s two apparently contradictory attitudes toward prayer.
But rather than just fire of tweets, I reached out to Moberg to see how he felt. I learned how, despite directly living in the tension of exhorting celebrities to live their values, he avoids demanding they prove his virtues. In the best of ways, listening to Ant’s pastor wrestle made me doubt, or at least reflect on my beliefs.
I appreciate that Moberg spent time with me, in between his activism and ministry, to speak candidly for my first real-deal eyeblack newsletter!
We had a wide ranging conversation, discussing:
Why Moberg empathized with Edwards and his Wolves teammates.
The situation on the ground in Minneapolis since agents killed Pretti (and Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino was Col. Lockjaw-ed1 out of his role).
Being the white guy asked to lead Black locker rooms2
If he thinks NBA teams, particularly the Wolves, suppress outspoken players like Wemby.
The value, if any, of athletes speaking out.
Maintaining his friendship with Karl-Anthony Towns even after his trade to the New York Knicks.
Our conversation was edited for clarity and length. It was also cut short by Moberg receiving an urgent call from his mother: ICE agents were threatening to arrest her. So we hung up abruptly and I remembered to pray. For everybody.