Meet the Breakout Star Of the New Netflix NBA Series

Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards makes his first appearance in Starting 5, the new docuseries following the exploits of NBA players debuting on Netflix on Oct. 9, near the very end of the first episode. And it’s a doozy of an intro: his blue Lamborghini revs up in the garage of his Minneapolis home. “I do not look up to anybody in the league right now, currently, not at all, yeah, not the slightest,” says Edwards. This comes after producers devoted much of Starting 5’s opening installment to establishing the greatness of LeBron James, one of the series’ handful of high-profile protagonists (Jimmy Butler, Jayson Tatum, Domantas Sabonis, and Edwards are the others). “Yeah, I want to cook LeBron one-on-one, like, who don’t? If you say you don’t, you don’t want to compete.”

Much like Edwards’ Lambo, Staring 5 is now off and running. 

The much-hyped docuseries, executive produced by, among others, Maverick Carter—James’ long-time business associate—Barack and Michelle Obama, and Peyton Manning, does offer stand out moments with its other characters. James, for example, reflecting on his son Bronny’s cardiac arrest in the summer of 2023, Butler coping with the death of his dad, Tatum bonding with his son Deuce, and Sabonis talking about a wholly unjustified All-Star game snub. 

Still, the unfiltered Edwards—known in Minnesota and points beyond as “Ant-Man,” or just “Ant,” is the breakout star of the show. 

The talented Timberwolves guard, who’s entering his fifth NBA season, has earned comparisons to none other than Michael Jordan, thanks to his acrobatics and explosiveness. It’s never been fair to burden any young phenom with the “next Jordan” label. But Trishtan Williams, one of the directors of the series who spent last season observing Edwards behind-the-scenes, doubles down on the Jordan talk. At just 23, Edwards is already a two-time All-Star and led Minnesota to the Western Conference Finals; he won a gold medal with the U.S. Olympic team this summer in Paris. And he’s still a work in progress. 

“He’s going to be the next Michael Jordan,” says Williams. “He’s a machine. He does not mind working out all day long.” 

Williams calls Edwards a “dream character” thanks to his quotability, charisma, and willingness to let viewers glimpse his life beyond the basketball court. From Edwards’ mouth to your ears, here are seven Edwards utterances from Starting 5 that give you a taste of the full Ant experience. 

“I don’t like to dunk at all to be honest, cause it hurts … But I like to dunk on people. I want the fans to just be like, 'Oh, f–ck, we couldn’t stop him tonight.'"

What exactly is painful about dunking? Perhaps Edwards’ arm clangs against the rim since he’s so high up there? Well, at least he enjoys posterizing his opponents. The top of the second episode features a montage of Ant’s greatest aerial hits: he uses hapless defenders as a landing pad. His legs straddled a poor player from the Toronto Raptors: it was embarrassing for the fella. Edwards can fly over people. He’s a ridiculous human, in the best sense.

“I’ve never packed my clothes, so why start now? You know what I mean?”

Responsibility for packing Ant up for road trips falls to his uncle, Drew, according to Starting 5. As Edwards snores away in his bed, Drew stuffs five outfits into a suitcase, while putting his nephew’s video-game equipment in another piece of luggage. Edwards says he doesn’t back his own stuff because he’s bound to forget essential items. Or wrinkle them.

Plus, Edwards insists Drew seems to find some fun in the task. “I think he like OCD or something,” says Ant.

“Got me looking like Lamont from Sanford and Son. Eddie Winslow from Family Matters.”

Ant is a sitcom historian! In this episode 2 scene, Edwards visits his longtime barber, Nono, in Atlanta while the T-Wolves are in town to play the Hawks. (Edwards grew up in Atlanta). He looks in the mirror and chirps at Nono; while it’s hard to see the resemblance between Edwards and Demond Wilson, the actor who played Lamond Sanford—the son—in the popular 1970s sitcom, the Eddie Winslow call is hysterical: Edwards is a dead ringer for Darius McCrary, who played the oldest child on Family Matters. (Erkel was the neighbor).

Despite the protestations and barbs from Edwards, Nono does objectively fine work on his hair. While the Wolves do lose to Atlanta later, putting a damper on Ant-Man’s homecoming, you can’t blame the Eddie Winslow ‘do.

“Playing a video game [is] like, essential to my life. It’s the only other thing I do the most other than play basketball. I’m in love with the video game.”

Edwards’ affection for Fortnite wouldn't be an issue, except it’s Thanksgiving Day and family has gathered at Ant’s home in Minnesota. Edwards is being an impolite host: he’s holed up in a room, eyes locked in on a screen, gamer headphones covering his ears. “I’m gonna kill his ass, goddamn,” says Edwards’ sister. Everyone is getting hungry.

Once Ant emerges from his cave, however, he’s all in: piling food on his plate, horsing around with the kids, belting out songs with his sister and others. It’s a place you’d want to be on Turkey Day.

"I want to play for like a long, long time in the NBA. That's all I want to do. I want to start eating better, building better habits. So I think taking care of your body is super important. ... The Domino's here?”

Oh Ant! Starting 5 offers a spit-take moment at the start of its third episode, as Edwards waxes poetic about the importance of taking care of his body, before devouring some delivery pizza. “With TB. Terrific body. Terrific body,” Edwards says while biting on a slice. The video games, the junk food: the series makes clear that Ant is still a kid, which is part of why he’s so enticing. If he builds better habits, ala the elder LeBron, who knows how high Ant can soar?

“Being named an All-Star is super-dope. ‘Cause if you don’t, what you doin’ it for?”

Nicolas Batum has played 16 years in the NBA. He’s won a pair of Olympic medals for France. He’s earned nearly $200 million in salary over his career. CJ McCollum has amassed more than $215 million in career earnings over his 11 seasons, won the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award in his third season, has established himself as a valuable NBA scorer, and has taken on a leadership role as president of the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA). By any measure, Batum, McCollum— not to mention the hundreds of other players like them throughout history—have enjoyed fruitful and productive careers.

It’s difficult in fact, to imagine many players who reached the NBA regretting their career paths. That Batum and McCollum have never made an All-Star team shouldn’t beg the question: “what you doin’ it for?”

But while Edwards’ perspective may seem a bit warped, it’s also worth examining from another perspective. Such All-Star single mindedness might be what makes Ant so special.

“I couldn’t put my shit on. Shit. I was in a rush.”

At the beginning of the seventh episode of Starting Five, Edwards has left his game against the Sacramento Kings early to rush to a Minneapolis hospital to be in the delivery room with his girlfriend as she gives birth to their daughter, Aislynn. He’s running out of an SUV and into the hospital with his shirt off and pants hanging down below his waist. “In real time it was an event to try to watch him get himself together,” says Williams, who filmed Edwards en route from the game to his daughter’s birth.

Fatherhood marked the latest milestone in Ant-Man’s maturation. “I want people to know that you do see him grow and you’re going to see a different athlete coming this season,” says Williams. “Unfortunately, I won’t have the chance to follow him. Because it’s going to be a special year for him for sure.”

Correction, Oct. 17:

An earlier version of this story misstated the name of Edwards' girlfriend featured in the film. It is Shannon Jackson.