NBA Star Anthony Edwards Isn’t Interested in Acting Again After Hustle: ‘I Don’t Think I’m Fit for That Job’

The Minnesota Timberwolves guard, who got great notices for his role in 2022’s “Hustle” starring Adam Sandler, is focusing on his job on the hardcourt

Anthony Edwards celebrates against the Denver Nuggets during the fourth quarter in Game Six of the Western Conference Second Round Playoffs on May 16, 2024 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Photo: David Berding/Getty

Anthony Edwards is flying high and putting in the work — but the NBA star says he’s not planning on making an encore as an actor anytime soon.

“I don’t know, man. I’m not going to lie,” Edwards tells PEOPLE in an exclusive interview paired with his partnership with Chipotle. “That’s hard. I’m not going to lie. I gained a new respect for acting once I did that movie. I don’t think I’m fit for that job.”

In the movie in question — 2022’s Hustle, starring Adam Sandler as an NBA scout — Edwards drew praise for his acting chops as trash-talking presumptive top draft pick Kermit Wilts.

But the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft tells PEOPLE that he’s more focused these days on his real-life team, the Minnesota Timberwolves, and their shot to make another deep run in the playoffs after coming up short last season in the Western Conference Finals.

After an off-season trade that sent Edwards’ on-the-court complement and off-the-court hilarious sidekick Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks, the Georgia product is embracing two new teammates — Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo — and likes their chances.

“It’s been fun,” Edwards says. “It’s been fun trying to figure it out, going through the ups and downs. I’m not going to say we figured it out right now, but we’re trying and it’s trending in the right direction, so it’s going good for me.”

Another thing Ant has made sure to turn around? His dedication to nutrition and diet.

Chipotle

The man who once claimed that he ate 21 bags of Chester’s Hot Fries a week and whose dedication to eating Popeyes came much to Towns’ chagrin has given way to someone who is determined to keep his body fat down, and he calls Chipotle one of his “go-to’s.”

Listed at 6-foot 4-inches and 225 lb., Edwards has a favorite order, what the company has coined the Anthony Edwards Bowl: half chicken, half steak, brown rice, fresh tomato salsa, roasted chili-corn salsa and lettuce.

“That’s just me,” he says about his order. “I’m nice and simple. I get right to it. I don’t do all that messing around.”

With visions of a Christmas Day game in Dallas against the Mavericks (who Edwards says is one of the top teams in the West, alongside the Oklahoma City Thunder) dancing in his head, Ant is headlining this team, and easing into the role of what many have anointed him: the future face of the NBA.

“I’m old, man,” the 23-year old jokes to PEOPLE. “I’m getting older.”