'My favorite person': Anthony Edwards lauds Obama after MVP-winning All Stars performance

"I told him I was going to put on the show for him," Anthony Edwards said about his interaction with former President Barack Obama before Sunday's 2026 NBA All-Star Game, and what a show he put on! Edwards led the USA Stars to a 47-21 victory over the USA Stripes, scoring 8 points, grabbing 4 rebounds, and dishing 2 assists. His performance earned him the MVP Award.  

Outside his performance, the Minnesota Timberwolves star also made headlines for his praise of Obama, whom he called his "favorite person". "He's my favorite person in the world. We were kicking it [Saturday]. Me and him had a great time. I told him I was going to put on a show for him," the 'Ant-Man' said. And this isn't the first memorable exchange Edwards has shared with the former President. 

During the Paris Olympics, when Edwards was part of the US' gold-medal winning basketball team, the then 24-year-old NBA star had impressed Obama with his sheer confidence. The moment, captured in Netflix's 'Court of Gold', stars with a conversation the former President has with Joel Embiid, asking him what he thinks about Edwards. "He can hoop a little bit, huh?" Oba asks Embiid, to which Edwards replies: "Man, y'all better stand down. I'm the truth!" "He's saying he's the truth! Yeah?" Obama says, laughing. "I'm the truth. These boys know," Edwards asserts. 

Obama then turns to LeBron James, asking, "LeBron, are y'all talking to this young man? Because he just said he's the truth and all that," only to be interrupted by Edwards. "Wait, hold on. You asked him [Embiid] what he thinks about this young man, and he said I'm 'okay.' I said I'm the truth! You tripping," the Ant Man said. Kevin Durant, who was also on the sidelines, backed the youngster: "He ain't lying."

Notably, reflecting on his first interaction with the former US President, Edwards had said during a fan interaction for GQ, "He just said something like, 'What's up with this young fella?' I mean, he didn't know me. I ain't won no championships, I ain't get no chance to meet him, so that's his first time meeting me. It was a great introduction." "We was just chopping it up, and I think he was just curious," the NBA star said in the video. 

Obama, on the other hand, has always been impressed by the Timberwolves stars’ confidence. "Anthony Edwards, I enjoy... because he’s just got a charisma on the court, and you can just tell he’s just having fun out there. He likes, you know, the smack-talking and the challenge," the former president said in an interview on 'The Young Man and The Three' podcast. Edwards is currently the third leading scorer in the NBA, averaging 29.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game during the 2025-26 season.