Anthony Edwards is flying high off a Game 1 playoff win over LeBron James, Luka Doncic and the Lakers. Edwards is trying to put a rocky season for his team in the rear view and lead the charge for Minnesota back into another Western conference finals.
In the meantime, his off the court life remains tumultuous and riddled with paternity suit issues led by his ex-Ayesha Howard, who is intent on keeping Edwards in court as long as she can. The scorned woman who has smeared Edwards’ name all over social media, basically labeling him a failure as a father, jetted to court to object to Edwards’ demand to keep their paternity battle out of public consumption, arguing he is only requesting it to avoid being ridiculed, according to reports.
Ayesha Howard and NBA star Anthony Edwards are involved in a nasty paternity court case (Getty Images/Ayesha Howard IG)
Ayesha Howard Wants Paternity Battle With Anthony Edwards To Remain Unsealed To Public
Ayesha, 37, filed her response as part of their nasty paternity war on April 16. A war that allegedly Edwards wants no part of, as he reportedly agreed to pay Howard around $1M worth of child support upfront for their daughter, which Howard has denied. She also hasn’t agreed that the reported number is a sufficient amount.
Anthony, 23, and Ayesha are the parents of a daughter named Aubri Summers Howard, born in October 2024. After some nasty exchanges between the two were exposed on social media, the duo took a DNA test in December 2024, which confirmed Anthony was the father.
Ayesha Howard and her lawyer, of course, don’t want the case sealed as they can continue to put pressure on Edwards to succumb to their financial demands and create turmoil in his basketball life as he performs with millions of eyes on him each night during the NBA playoffs.
In recent court documents, Ayesha fired back at Anthony’s request to have their legal battle sealed, arguing that the case has been publicly accessible for over six months. “During that time, the pleadings, issues, and identities of the parties have remained in the public domain, and [Ayesha] is not aware of any undue harm resulting from such access,” her lawyer argued.
The lawyer continued, “[Ayesha] further avers that no confidential or sensitive information has been filed in this matter that would justify sealing. To date, [Ayesha] has not experienced any public interference, harassment, or adverse treatment related to the pending litigation, either personally or on behalf of the minor child.”
Ant-Man Still Showing Out In Public: Compares Genitals wIth Fans
As far as Edwards being concerned with how this will affect his public image, the shooting guard seems less caught up than his lawyers. The other night, during a playoff game against the Lakers, Edwards got into it with heckling fans and bragged about his money and then told the fan that his genitals were bigger, but used graphic wording.
Social media had a ball with the clip that has since gone viral.
“And people wonder why these youngns won’t become faces of the league,” said one fan in response to Ant-Man’s gesture towards fans.
“You have to be better than that young man,” said another fan speaking to Edwards directly. “Too many young children look up to you regardless if you want to be a role model or not.@theantedwards“
A third fan added: “This ain’t a good look. That’s crossing the line imo. Go band for band but you got kids attending, no need for him to stoop to that level.”
Anthony Edwards Wants Custody Battle to Be Sealed After Alleged Texts Leak
Earlier this month, Anthony made a request to the court to seal the paternity case. He feels that it can be handled personally and not used as a social media ploy to garner attention, as Howard has been accused of doing. Anthony alleged that coverage of the case has led to “unnecessary public scrutiny, undue invasion of privacy and harm to the minor child.”
The NBA star’s lawyer wrote, “The media has already published details that sensationalize the proceedings rather than serve any legitimate public interest, including private text messages, the DNA test and information about children not subject to this proceeding.”
Also adding that “public access to these records has invited unwanted interference from the general public, online commentators, and social media users, which has resulted in harassment, doxxing and malicious speculation that has impacted the parties and their ability to focus on their career and their children’s well-being.”
Anthony Edwards’ Unemployed Ex Brings Up His Net Worth in Child Support Plea
Howard’s lawyer accused Edwards of damage control, not being concerned for the child.
“It appears that [Anthony’s] primary motivation in seeking to seal the record is to mitigate potential damage to his public image… “However, concern over reputation alone does not constitute sufficient grounds to overcome the presumption of public access to court records.”
In Ayesha’s opinion, they are both public figures and the coverage is “neither unusual nor unexpected.”
The defending motion added, “Media coverage thus far has been limited to factual reporting and public commentary, which is to be expected given the parties’ public status. [Ayesha] has not observed any deviation from the media’s usual conduct, nor has she experienced any increase in media scrutiny.”
NBA Star Anthony Edwards Can’t Shake Ayesha Howard’s Exposed Texts
The judge has yet to rule on the matter, but Ayesha let it be known she was going for the jugular when she first submitted a series of alleged texts from Anthony after she told him she was pregnant.
One damning text, that incited a world of backlash for the NBA star, was when Ayesha wrote to the NBA star, “I’m pregnant … wanted to tell you in person but you gave me no other choice. We probably should have kept it cordial but we’re here now.”
To which Ant-Man allegedly replies, “OK lol. Get da abortion lol.”
As the story goes, Howard claimed that Anthony blocked her on all platforms after she revealed the pregnancy. and made it “clear, through text messages, that their daughter would be a ‘fatherless child.” Edwards is currently involved in a relationship with another one of the mothers of his children, Shannon Jackson. That is the woman Edwards publicly claims, and she is very much standing by his side, despite Howard’s attempts to assassinate his character by telling the public that he never reached out during the pregnancy and hasn’t since to see his daughter.
Anthony Edwards Believes Ayesha Howard Is A Gold Digger
At the end of the day, Anthony believes that Howard’s aggression in this manner is all a paper chase. He accused her of filing a paternity case in California in hopes of scoring higher child support. Anthony won that battle in court as a California judge determined child support would not be determined in Los Angeles. Anthony then filed a separate case in Georgia over paternity and child support of Aubri, while making it clear to anyone who cares that he has no intention of seeking custody or even visitation of their daughter.
According to reports, Ayesha also asked a Georgia judge to order Anthony, 23, to pay her temporary monthly support until a final determination on the amount Anthony will pay is set by the court “By contrast, [Ayesha] is currently unemployed and relies on savings, family support and any support that Anthony provides to maintain the needs and care for the minor child,” Ayesha’s lawyer wrote. Ayesha said she had to hire a lawyer to fight Anthony in court, and “is without the financial means to do so.”
Anthony Edwards Is Fighting Several Paternity Cases
According to reports, Anthony also recently filed a separate paternity case against an ex named Alexandria Desroches. They have a son named Amir. Alexandria’s New York-based lawyer, Al Hedayati, Esq. of the Hedayati Law Group, P.C., says this is a “simple case” about “somebody who has superior financial power attempting to suppress [Ally’s] rights and play games.”
At this point, NBA players need to beware because the only peace Edwards is finding is on the court and that’s not a good sign for his opponents.
