The conversations that Ebony Twiggs had with her son came from a place of love, but also of expertise. They would grow in complexity as he grew on the basketball court, though the central message remained the same.
When Justin Edwards came home from high school as a freshman at Imhotep Charter and wanted to quit the basketball team because his coaches were too hard on him, Twiggs was the one to explain that that was the point. When Edwards struggled with his confidence at the University of Kentucky, she buoyed his spirits with her unwavering belief in his ability.
Through a draft-night disappointment and stints in the G League that led to a breakthrough rookie season with the Philadelphia 76ers, Twiggs served as both mom and sounding board.
The roles were rooted in love. But also in Twiggs’ experience fighting for her basketball career.
Even through a dispiriting 76ers season, Edwards was one of the bright lights, an undrafted free agent who proved capable of contributing to his hometown team.
Some of that basketball lineage traces to Twiggs, a 6-3 forward who spent two years at Cheyney University when Edwards was an infant before playing professionally in Portugal. Twiggs didn’t just bequeath ability on the court but instilled in him an example of what it takes to fight for your future in the world of basketball.
Philadelphia 76ers forward Justin Edwards plays against the Dallas Mavericks in Dallas on March 16. His mother, Ebony Twiggs, had a long basketball career as well and was a guiding light for her son. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
“I would never let him make any excuses,” Twiggs said recently. “Because if this is what you want, if this is your goal, being an NBA player, this is what we’ve got to do.”
From the Pub to Portugal
The historical tie between Edwards and Twiggs is oft-told. In 2000, as a junior at University City High School, Twiggs collected 20 points, 23 rebounds and five blocks to be named MVP of the Public League girls final.
Edwards won the same award in 2023 for Imhotep, as part of a McDonald’s All-American career.
If that solitary honor speaks to Twiggs’ talent, what came next reveals her dedication.
She graduated in 2001, then spent two seasons at Tallahassee Community College in Florida, where she averaged 7.9 points and 8.6 rebounds over 55 games. She withdrew midway through her sophomore season when she got pregnant with Justin, born in December 2003.
That put her basketball career on hold for two years while she raised her son in Philadelphia, closer to family and friends. But Twiggs wasn’t done with basketball. So in 2006, she enrolled at Cheyney, its basketball team then in the Division II Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, offering high level basketball and a pipeline of players in Philadelphia in particular.
Edwards stayed with his godmother in Philadelphia while Twiggs lived on campus.
She averaged 7.3 points per game in 2006-07, then played in 10 games the following season.
She wasn’t just the only mother on the team but the oldest by far.
“Some of my teammates were graduating fifth grade when I was going to high school,” she recalled.
But she got to see Edwards on the weekends, her family bringing him to Delco for weekends during the season, a diaper-clad Edwards padding through the dorms.
“All my teammates now are like, ‘y’all remember when we used to have him on campus?,’ ” Twiggs said.
Much as having a son made things logistically challenging, it also provided motivation to keep at it.
“It made me want to work even harder to try to be a professional basketball player and make money to take care of my son and to give him a good life,” she said. “It was me trying to fight through the classes. I didn’t like school, but that was my way of playing basketball and knowing that I had to do that in order to play.”
In 2008, when a teammate was invited to a talent identification camp in Boston, Twiggs asked for the info and finagled an invite.
She played hard enough to leave with blood clots in her feet and a deal with an agent, who shopped her services overseas. She signed with Clube Amigos do Basquete in Madeira, spending four months as a pro on the Portuguese island that is closer to Morocco than the European mainland.
Portugal’s top division was one of many leagues where Americans plied their trade in the WNBA offseason to make extra money. Twiggs, who long wanted to prove she was capable of playing in the WNBA, matched up with them on weekly basis.
“It was the experience of getting paid to do something that I love: playing against WNBA players. It was surreal to me,” she said. “I’m over here and I’m playing against these people that are in the WNBA, so it was a good experience for me.”
Twiggs’ time in Portugal was cut short by an injury. She had a deal in place for the next season in Finland, but that fell through when she got pregnant with her second child, daughter Akira.
At that point, basketball took a backseat to parenting, Twiggs working two jobs for most of Edwards’ high school career. But her basketball past remained close.
A basketball mom
Edwards was too young to remember any of his mother’s career, at Cheyney or abroad. He spent Twiggs’ year in Portugal living in North Carolina with his father.
Through the years, his mother’s legend has filtered down to him.
“Everybody told me about it,” he said. “But I don’t really remember her playing. Everybody tells me, ‘Oh, your mom was tough.’ I go off of what people tell me, and I’ve seen some clips of her.”
Philadelphia 76ers forward Justin Edwards against the Atlanta Hawks on March 23, 2025, in Atlanta. He was too young to remember his mother’s time on the court but others have told him about her tenacity. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
The past is present in how they relate to each other when it comes to Edwards’ career. He starred at Imhotep, one of the top players in the country in the class of 2023 and recruited by Kentucky. He spent one season in Lexington with mixed results, struggling early in the new environment.
Edwards’ nonstop upward trajectory hit its first turbulence there. Few were as equipped to navigate that than Twiggs.
When Edwards struggled with his confidence, Twiggs offered encouragement as a basketball player, pointing out his talent and work ethic. When Edwards was stung with not getting drafted after some predicted he’d be a top-10 pick out of high school, Twiggs could point to her journey as proof that things sometimes work out in ways you didn’t expect.
“She talks to me different when it comes to basketball, because she’s been through all of it,” Edwards said. “She has a different passion in the conversation when we’re talking, because she’s been through all the ups and downs and seen everything.”
“Even though that’s my child — take that away, me giving birth to him — I’m a basketball player,” the mom said. “I know basketball, and I know what he brings to a team.”
Their communication has plenty of banter to it.
Twiggs always pointed out that, for whatever college and all-star games he played in, she was still the professional in the family until the 76ers deal was signed. Edwards doesn’t recall playing against his mom growing up, attributing it to the fact that, “she doesn’t want no smoke.”
Edwards began the 2024-25 season on a two-way deal with the 76ers, spending much of his time with the Delaware Blue Coats.
A slew of injuries opened opportunities, and Edwards pounced.
The 6-7 wing can guard multiple positions and knock down 3-pointers, averaging 10.1 points, 3.4 rebounds and 36.3 percent 3-point shooting in 44 games (26 starts). He’s laid a convincing claim to second-unit minutes next year on what the 76ers hope is an improved and healthier team.
None of it surprises Twiggs. Much as she’s enjoyed watching him play for the 76ers, it’s what she expected to happen since Edwards was in high school.
She says it feels like watching him play in high school or in college, knowing he’s doing what she’s long known he’s capable of.
The surreal moments are when he matches up defensively against his idol, Kevin Durant, or has to try to drive past LeBron James, the dream stuff they once talked about.
That certainty, from her experience on the court, came long before Edwards was officially an NBA player.
“When he finally broke out (at Kentucky), everybody was like, ‘is this a surprise?’ ” she said. “Really no, because I already knew that this would be happening. Everybody else didn’t. I knew. Because I know who my son is and how mentally strong he is.”