As Anthony “Ant-Man” Edwards, 23, prepares for the start of the 2024-2025 NBA season, the Minnesota Timberwolves player is awaiting the outcome of a paternity petition he filed in connection with the mother of rapper “Lil Baby”’s first child.
Edwards petitioned a Georgia court in September for genetic testing for a child by social media influencer Ayesha “Little Ms. Golden” Howard, according to Page Six. A status conference for the case is set for Nov. 13.
Three additional women, including Anthony’s current girlfriend Shannon Jackson, have also claimed to be mothers to three of his other children born between 2023 and 2024.
Ayesha Howard, who is just days short of turning 37, reportedly dated the rapper born Dominique Jones, 29, from 2010 to 2015. In September 2015, she gave birth to the “Drip Too Hard” rapper’s son, Jason, who has his own personal Instagram page with 58,000 followers.
After news broke of Edwards potentially fathering a child with Lil Baby’s ex and requesting paternity for proof of child support, internet sleuths began digging up old footage of the Olympic gold medalist in connection to the “Dawg” rapper.
A clip of Edwards and Baby interacting at the 2024 Fanatics Fest NYC went viral on Oct. 17. Ant-Man attended the Aug. 19 event to take part in a Jalen Rose-moderated panel discussion with fellow NBA star Kevin Durant.
While there, he took part in autograph signings and photo opportunities as well. Lil Baby was also in attendance with his two sons — 9-year-old Jason and 5-year-old Loyal with his on gain, off again girlfriend Jayda Cheaves.
At some point, the two men ran into each other inside Manhattan’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, briefly exchanged words and dapped each other.
“How you been?” Lil Baby asked Edwards before handing a replica WWE championship belt to Loyal. Edwards responded, “Good, working.”
Video of the interaction spread across the internet, with some blogs wrongfully suggesting the meeting happened after Edwards filed court papers involving Jones’ first child’s mother, Ayesha.
Despite the mix-up on the timing of Edwards and Lil Baby’s Fanatics Fest conversation, social media users had a lot of commentary about their kids possibly having the same mother.
One person wrote on X, “They’re going to be family now.” Another X user joked, “Lil Baby better not ever do no subliminal diss to Anthony Edwards.”
A third individual asked, “What were they supposed to do??? Break out and fight.”
Someone else observed Edwards and Baby’s handshake and stated, “Left-hand daps ARE WILD!! I don’t think I’ve ever done one in my life.”
Another said, “He dap lil baby & his crew with his left hand.. he don’t f-ck with em .. he just kept it cordial.”
Edwards and Lil Baby have more in common than seemingly being former partners with Ayesha Howard.
The NBA star and the Grammy Award-winning recording artist are both from the Oakland City neighborhood of Atlanta.
Plus, they previously worked together for community outreach. Lil Baby performed at Edwards’ College Park-set third annual AE5 basketball camp in September 2023.
He joined the Quality Control Music representative on stage at the camp as he ran through some of his hit songs, such as “Baby” and “We Paid.”
Additionally, Edwards shares an interest in rapping like Lil Baby, according to a video posted in November 2020 which shows the ball player freestyling in a car.
The 2020 NBA draft member has also expressed being a fan of Lil Baby’s music and can be seen in other videos vibing out to his fellow Atlanta native’s tracks.
In December 2023, Ant-Man sat down for an interview with Complex’s “360 With Speedy” show. Host Speedy Morman asked him about his relationship with Lil Baby.
“I be hitting him when he do something fire. He hit me. We check on each other all the time. For sure, he’s my partner,” Edwards said about the “It’s Only Me” artist.
According to Edwards, he and Lil Baby celebrated together in Las Vegas after he signed his five-year, $260 million contract extension with the Timberwolves in July 2023.
The Minnesota Timberwolves and Anthony Edwards will kick off the 2024 NBA regular season on Oct. 22 against the Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center.
Edwards also stars in Netflix’s “Starting 5″ docuseries, which premiered on the streaming platform on Oct. 9. The program also follows the lives and careers of NBA stars LeBron James, Jimmy Butler, Domantas Sabonis, and Jayson Tatum.
