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Is Hustle's Kermit Wilts A Real NBA Player?
Adam Sandler's latest sports film Hustle is full of NBA stars, but is the movie's villain Kermit Wilts a real professional basketball player?

Is Hustle's Kermit Wilts A Real NBA Player?

Several real NBA stars feature in Adam Sandler’s latest Netflix movie Hustle, with some playing themselves while others play fictional characters – here’s who antagonist Kermit Wilts really is. Co-produced by LeBron James, Hustle follows Philadelphia 76ers scout Stanley Sugerman (Sandler) preparing the hot-headed Bo Cruz (Juancho Hernangómez) for the NBA Draft. The movie has received largely positive reviews, particularly compared to other recent basketball movies like Space Jam 2, in part because Hustle avoids common basketball movie mistakes.

Spaniard Hernangómez makes his acting debut in Hustle, but in real life he is an NBA player who has been in the league since 2016. Also performing as a fictional character, two-time NBA champion and current basketball analyst Kenny “The Jet” Smith plays sports agent Leon Rich. A number of past and present NBA superstars portray themselves in Hustle, including Kyle Lowry, Luka Doncic, and Dirk Nowitzki. Sandler is a huge basketball fan himself, and it’s not the first movie of his to include a professional player, with NBA Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett featuring as a fictional version of himself in the cast of Uncut Gems.

Kermit Wilts, the trash-talking rival of Bo Cruz in Hustle, is not a real basketball player but is played by current NBA star Anthony Edwards. Like Hernangómez, Edwards makes his acting debut in Hustle, and his performance of the unlikeable Kermit has been widely praised. Followers of Edward’s young NBA career will not be surprised that he took to acting so well, given his entertaining personality and captivating interviews.

Anthony Edwards’ NBA Career Explained

Anthony Edwards is a shooting guard whose explosiveness and scoring ability have earned him comparisons to NBA legend Dwayne Wade. Edwards represented the University of Georgia’s Bulldogs basketball team for one season before entering himself into the 2020 NBA Draft. Although the ending of Hustle doesn’t show where Kermit was drafted to, Anthony Edwards was selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves as the number one pick. In his impressive first season, Edwards finished runner-up in the race for NBA Rookie of the Year behind LaMelo Ball.

In his second season, Edwards improved in all key areas of basketball, averaging 21.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game. His performances helped guide the Timberwolves to the NBA Playoffs for the first time since 2018, though they were eliminated in the first round by the Memphis Grizzlies. Anthony Edwards isn’t the first NBA star to appear in a film. After a promising start to his acting career as Kermit Wilts in Hustle, he could be the first professional basketball to establish himself as a legitimate movie star.