PHILADELPHIA — As the Philadelphia 76ers continue through the 2025-26 season, the focus will remain on Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, and Paul George, but there are younger players who are an important piece of their success as well.

Rookie VJ Edgecombe and second-year players Jared McCain, Justin Edwards, and Adem Bona as well as 4-year forwards Dominick Barlow and Jabari Walker are all working their way into the rotation and making an impact for the Sixers. They have made mistakes along the way, as every young player does, and it’s important to have veterans around to help them through the tough times.

The Sixers have two of them in the form of Eric Gordon and Kyle Lowry who have been in the league for 18 and 20 years, respectively. They are more so mentors at this stage of their careers, but Gordon knows the importance of his presence.

“A lot of these young guys are getting a lot of minutes and you gotta have guys who have been there, done that to just stay on them day-to-day,” Gordon told Sixers Wire. “While we can stay ready–my thing with VJ is to shoot with him. I think his jump shot has been pretty good this year. Of course, he’s leaning because he’s playing a little bit of point guard, a little bit of this and that and kind of prepare them mentally for the game.”

Gordon and Edgecombe have a close relationship due to their time together playing for the Bahamian national team. After practice, one can see the veteran take the rookie with him to put up extra 3-pointers to continue the work. That is why it’s so important having a guy like Gordon around to help the youngsters grow.

“As long as you kinda stay on them, that’s what matters because those guys are the future and they’re gonna have long careers,” Gordon added. “It’s better to jump on them early.”

In year 18, Gordon has only played five games thus far on the season. His role is to teach, but he can also still shoot the heck out of the ball if given the chance as he’s shooting 62.5% from deep in his limited minutes in 2025-26 and is a career 37.2% shooter from deep. He has been to the playoffs a ton in his career and made the Western Conference finals in 2015 and 2018 with the Houston Rockets. That knowledge and wisdom he has to pass down to the younger players is invaluable.

“I have a different approach,” Gordon explained. “I like to talk to the guys a lot more one-on-one before a game because I want them to learn and thrive for themselves during a game and they’ll be able to learn little adjustments, so I think that’s the main part.”

The younger players for the Sixers are in good hands with Gordon and Lowry around to help them as the future becomes the present for them.