VJ Edgecombe is already so Philly, it’s literally wild

VJ Edgecombe has already shown he’s ready for Philly — on and off the court.

VJ Edgecombe is so Philly it’s wild. First a bit of non-story (knock wood) comic relief, then we’ll get into it.

Yes, as our Erin Grugan put it, VJ Edgecombe really is a Sixer. That became apparent when the Bahamas native was ruled out of a 76ers-Spurs Summer League game just five minutes before tip off with a thumb contusion, according The Athletic’s Tony Jones. Then last Friday, President of Basketball Operations, Daryl Morey, refers to the issue as a wrist.

“Yeah, so he hurt his wrist. Sort of a day-to-day thing,” Morey said, per PhillyVoice. So all of us die-hards gear up for another VJ smash night vs. San Antonio, then welp….we got Sixered again.

Sure, Jones indicated last week that holding Edgecombe out of future games is the team exercising an “abundance of caution.” But after Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Markelle Fultz, Zhaire Smith and others, you’ll excuse us if we’re having a hint of collective PTSD here.

And if you must, you can watch him missing shots due to that injury below and future trip until you’re sweaty and dehydrated with anxiety.

But rather than doing what we typically do around the Greater Delaware Valley — that is worry roll our eyes, wallow and debate if this is serious or not — I say we do the opposite. Let’s open our minds to simply appreciate how Philly this guy is, and how beautiful of a fit he might be in the backcourt alongside an on-ball former All-Star still entering his prime in Tyrese Maxey.

Edgecombe has already proven he’s too good for Summer League. No need to risk even Sixerier (not a word but I’m going with it) disasters by allowing him playing on a sore thumb/wrist bone; especially if he’s already a big part of the plan.

Per the Baylor star himself, in his first Sixers’ presser: “I feel like I’ll play well off [Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and Paul George]. You know, I’ve been playing off the ball [at Baylor and for the Bahamas’ National squad] so I don’t need the ball to be impactful,” Edgecombe said.

Absolute music to our ears. It’s also a far cry from what we’re used to hearing from the likes of Ben “I swear I’m a point guard” Simmons. And it might have been much more of a problem had the team opted to select Rutgers’ forward, Ace Bailey — who apparently hopes to develop his Melo-esque iso-ball game on the fly.

“I think I just need to continue growing on every aspect of the game. You know, you never can stop getting better but I’m really focused on just shooting the ball at a high level to release pressure off Joel and Tyrese and PG,” the 6-foot-5 guard continued.

A top-three Sixers’ pick who doesn’t need need the rock to be effective AND actively wants to improve his shooting? [Insert 25 mind blown emojis]. OK, so unlike Tobias Harris, it sounds like VJ could live (during his early days at least) with being asked to simply spot up and cut within half court sets, without feeling disgruntled.* Imagine a young Danny Green, not quite as wet from deep but he can dribble, pass and got somehow hopped up on a bunch of turbo-jet steroids? Or fine, imagine an early career Victor Oladipo, perhaps?

Because here’s where things get really exciting — VJ looks and sounds like he has the makings to become a demon defensively over time.

“My mentality is not let nobody score,” Edgecombe told Liberty Ballers. “I hate to see other people score — it’s just, I just hate to see other people score, and I’m focused on I just don’t like to see other people score.”

If we polled the last 50 top-five NBA Draft picks over the last 10 years, I think we might be hard-pressed to find more than a handful with this type of mentality coming into the league. Valdez Drexel Edgecombe Jr. (even his full name has a Philly school in it, let’s gooo) wants to be an elite defender.

“Why not be an elite defender, or try your hardest to be a lead defender, and man, that just comes with I just know the grit, just grit … I just don’t like seeing other people score,” VJ said naturally, perhaps unknowingly, channeling his inner Brian Dawkins.

“Like I said, I just hate seeing the whole opponent score, because if they score, more or less, they win. I hate to lose. I just love to win. So yeah, that’s why I play. That’s what I do.”

Anyone ever go to those Poconos basketball camps where they make you yell “I love defense” after doing agonizing slide drills? VJ is that five-star kid the coach points out doing it harder and faster than everyone else without any of the attention seeking behavior.

VJ couldn’t help but repeat himself and it’s totes endearing how passionate he speaks about grit, grime, and good-old, hard-nosed, Larry Brown-style defense. Brown led a team with Allen Iverson and a cluster of gritty defenders to the championship round back in 2001. Brown won his first ever NBA title with the second coming of the Bad Boy Pistons back in 2004. If we walked around the Streets of Philadelphia (shout-out Springsteen), and asked people what makes a local athlete a true Philly athlete, I’d be shocked if they didn’t say some of the same things VJ is already talking about naturally, and some of the same things he’s already embodied on film.

VJ’s unbridled joy at being drafted by the Sixers No. 3 overall was beyond touching. And it’s already impossible not to root for him. But watching him play, hearing him talk about everything the Sixers need so desperately, it just hits different.

As our Paul Hudrick put it, Edgecombe truly ticks all the boxes, in terms of ball-hawking, shooting, possessing the ability to deflect a ball loose on one end, outrace the entire floor to the other, and finish the play with a cocked-back jam so thunderous it forces a road crowd to “ooooh” while allowing a television audience back home to then hear the Philly bench standing up, cheering, and holding each other back from staggering onto the court.

That stuff forces the opposition to take a time out. And can swing the momentum of a playoff game. Would I be getting ahead of myself if I referred to VJ and Maxey as Thunder and Lightning? We know they have a lot of that in the Bahamas….

So wait, how did a dude who grew up in The Bahamas become this #Philly already? I don’t know the answer to that. But between his personality, his game, and even his latest injury update, I’m probably going to have to get myself one of those clean white No. 77 jerseys soon.

*I feel like we can almost just put an #AssumingThey’reHealthy asterisk, footnote, qualifier, or hashtag for pretty much every conversation we have until the 2026 NBA Playoffs arrive.