Mallory Edens, the daughter of Milwaukee Bucks owner Wes Edens, wound up being the real star of Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Championship finals on May 23.
The 23-year old beauty ignited the crowd with a t-shirt of rapper Pusha-T, who famously has a rivalry with Raptors superfan Drake. This was widely seen as trolling the Canadian rap star, who has drawn flack for his antics so far in the series.
After the Raptors delivered the victory, Drake stepped up his troll game and changed his Instagram avatar to a photo of Mallory Edens. Drake also included a photo of Edens to his Instagram story with the caption, “All is fair in war and war and trust me I’ll still get you tickets to ovo fest.” OVO Fest was a music festival started by Drake in 2010 but has been on hiatus since 2017. The rapper’s reference to the music festival has led to rumors that it could be about to return.
Here’s what you need to know about the Game 5 theatrics, as well as her.
1. Mallory Edens Sat Next to Aaron Rodgers Courtside for Game 5
Before people picked up on her shirt, people noticed her sitting next to Aaron Rodgers. He initially went viral for emphatically losing a drinking battle with Packers linemen David Bakhtiari.
Rodgers is dating NASCAR driver Danica Patrick, so the fact that they were sitting together shouldn’t be seen as anything other than local support for the Bucks.
Soon after, viewers on social media started putting together the significance of her shirt. The rivalry between Pusha-T and Drake is well-known, as the former released a diss track that Drake said crossed the line. Per our own LOOK post, Drake talked about the track:
I knew something was gonna come up about my kid. They had to add the deadbeat dad thing to make it more appealing, which is fine. The mom and dad thing… Whatever. You don’t even know my family. But wishing death upon my friend who has MS… I study rap battles for a living. When you mention defenseless people who are sick in the hospital, who have passed away, I just believe that there’s a price you have to pay for that. It’s over!
Edens is retaliating for Drake’s behavior in Toronto during Games 3 and 4. Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer commented on it during a press conference earlier this week. Per Bleacher Report:
“I see it in some timeouts, but I don’t know of any person that’s attending the game that isn’t a participant in the game, a coach—I’m sorry, a player or a coach, that has access to the court. I don’t know how much he’s on the court. It sounds like you guys are saying it’s more than I realize. There’s certainly no place for fans and, you know, whatever it is exactly that Drake is for the Toronto Raptors. You know, to be on the court, there’s boundaries and lines for a reason, and like I said, the league is usually pretty good at being on top of stuff like that.”
2. Mallory Edens is One of 4 Children from Wes Edens
Wes Edens accumulated his wealth by cofounding Fortress Investment Group and being the sole founder of New Fortress Energy. He purchased the Bucks in 2014 from Herbert Kohl for $550 million, according to NBA.com. They released the following statement at the time:
We are lifelong basketball fans who are committed to the success of the Bucks and the identity of the team as a part of the city of Milwaukee. It is our vision for this franchise to be admired both locally and nationally for its success on the court, the quality of its organization and the loyalty of its fan base. Having each built competitive teams in the business world, we will apply that same intensity and determination as owners of the Milwaukee Bucks. We are as passionate and energized as Bucks fans are about bringing home an NBA championship to Milwaukee.
Along with Mallory, Wes has another daughter named Madison. The two were spotted on Instagram enjoying All-Star weekend in New Orleans in 2017. They have two other siblings.
3. Mallory Edens Represented the Franchise at the 2014 NBA Draft Lottery
Mallory first hit the scene by representing the Bucks at the 2014 NBA Lottery. According to the New York Post, she was an 18-year old high school senior at the time. Wes reportedly brought up the possiblity shortly before the event.
“He sort of brought it up in passing one time and I though he was joking and then here I am,” Mallory told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (via the New York Post), “so I suppose it wasn’t a joke.”
She stated that she was nervous to be standing next to Philadelphia 76ers legend Julius Erving, but Madison stated that she is the photogenic one.
“She’s definitely the more photogenic one, so I was happy to give it to her,” Madison said. “I could not be up there. She was amazing. … What a great way to start.”
Milwaukee landed the No. 2 pick, which was used on former Duke Blue Devil Jabari Parker.
4. Mallory Edens Recently Graduated from Princeton
According to The Big Lead in 2018, she recently graduated from Princeton University. She also competed on the cross country team, posting a personal best of 11:02.03 over 3000 meters.
The article showed her enjoying Greece as a post-graduation vacation, the home of Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Her Instagram page also states that she is a “princeton nerd.” She currently has over 109,000 followers. She had under 100,000 before she went viral with her Pusha-T shirt.
Along with posting attractive pictures, she posts a lot of content supporting the Bucks, as well as expressing her political opinion on abortion rights.
5. Mallory Edens Frequently Comments on NBA Topics
I’m really just tryna get me some of whatever water golden state is serving at their free agency meetings. 🧐🧐🤔
Mallory doesn’t hold back on her opinions on various NBA topics. When Antetokounmpo rejected a role in Space Jam 2, the potential project by LeBron James, she told TMZ Sports that this was a good thing.
“If you think about it right now, LeBron is Giannis’ peer,” Mallory said this past April. “I don’t think he should idolize him in a way like a normal basketball fan [would].”
She also ripped Warriors center DeMarcus Cousins for signing with Golden State this past summer.
In an Instagram story, Edens highlighted a report from ESPN.com’s Adrian Wojnarowski about the move and wrote, “r u joking this is just nuts at this point,” per TMZ Sports.
In another post on Instagram, Edens added, “It’s not cool to try and win a chip on ur own anymore huh.” She also stated in the above tweet about the Warriors’ ability to land whomever they want in free agency.
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Mallory Edens, Bucks Owner’s Daughter: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know