VJ Edgecombe is so Philly it\u2019s wild. First a bit of non-story (knock wood) comic relief, then we\u2019ll get into it.<\/p>\n
Yes, as our Erin Grugan put it, VJ Edgecombe really is a Sixer.<\/a> That became apparent when the Bahamas native was ruled out of a 76ers<\/a>-Spurs Summer League game just five minutes before tip off with a thumb contusion, according The Athletic\u2019s Tony Jones. Then last Friday, President of Basketball Operations, Daryl Morey, refers to the issue as a wrist.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, so he hurt his wrist. Sort of a day-to-day thing,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n Sure, Jones indicated last week that holding Edgecombe out of future games is the team exercising an \u201cabundance of caution.\u201d But after Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Markelle Fultz, Zhaire Smith and others, you\u2019ll excuse us if we\u2019re having a hint of collective PTSD here.<\/p>\n And if you must, you can watch him missing shots due to that injury below and future trip until you\u2019re sweaty and dehydrated with anxiety.<\/p>\n But rather than doing what we typically do around the Greater Delaware Valley \u2014 that is worry roll our eyes, wallow and debate if this is serious or not \u2014 I say we do the opposite. Let\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n Edgecombe has already proven he\u2019s too good for Summer League. No need to risk even Sixerier (not a word but I\u2019m going with it) disasters by allowing him playing on a sore thumb\/wrist bone; especially if he\u2019s already a big part of the plan.<\/p>\n Per the Baylor star himself, in his first Sixers\u2019 presser: \u201cI feel like I\u2019ll play well off [Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and Paul George]. You know, I\u2019ve been playing off the ball [at Baylor and for the Bahamas\u2019 National squad] so I don\u2019t need the ball to be impactful,\u201d Edgecombe said. <\/p>\n Absolute music to our ears. It\u2019s also a far cry from what we\u2019re used to hearing from the likes of Ben \u201cI swear I\u2019m a point guard\u201d Simmons. And it might have been much more of a problem had the team opted to select Rutgers<\/a>\u2019 forward, Ace Bailey \u2014 who apparently hopes to develop his Melo-esque iso-ball game on the fly.<\/p>\n \u201cI think I just need to continue growing on every aspect of the game. You know, you never can stop getting better but I\u2019m really focused on just shooting the ball at a high level to release pressure off Joel and Tyrese and PG,\u201d the 6-foot-5 guard continued. <\/p>\n A top-three Sixers\u2019 pick who doesn\u2019t 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?<\/p>\n Because here\u2019s where things get really exciting \u2014 VJ looks and sounds like he has the makings to become a demon defensively over time.<\/p>\n \u201cMy mentality is not let nobody score,\u201d Edgecombe told Liberty Ballers. \u201cI hate to see other people score \u2014 it\u2019s just, I just hate to see other people score, and I\u2019m focused on I just don\u2019t like to see other people score.\u201d <\/p>\n If we polled the last 50 top-five NBA Draft<\/a> 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\u2019s gooo) wants to be an elite defender. <\/p>\n \u201cWhy 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 \u2026 I just don\u2019t like seeing other people score,\u201d VJ said naturally, perhaps unknowingly, channeling his inner Brian Dawkins. <\/p>\n \u201cLike 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\u2019s why I play. That\u2019s what I do.\u201d<\/p>\n Anyone ever go to those Poconos basketball camps where they make you yell \u201cI love defense\u201d 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. <\/p>\n VJ couldn\u2019t help but repeat himself and it\u2019s 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\u2019d be shocked if they didn\u2019t say some of the same things VJ is already talking about naturally, and some of the same things he\u2019s already embodied on film.<\/p>\n VJ\u2019s unbridled joy at being drafted by the Sixers No. 3 overall was beyond touching. And it\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n