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Understandably, everyone in the Sixers’ orbit would like to forget the 2024-25 season. Murphy’s Law ruled the day as a team with championship aspirations only managed to win 24 games.
But it’s always darkest before the dawn.
Sure, last season was miserable — in fact, if there’s a word stronger than miserable, it was that — but without it, VJ Edgecombe would not be a Sixer. The No. 3 overall pick out of Baylor has been everything the team had hoped and then some.
Edgecombe’s performance in a big home win over the Miami Heat Thursday was another reminder of that. Tyrese Maxey, on a night that was really about him after setting the franchise’s all-time record for made threes, couldn’t help but laud Edgecombe.
“I love VJ. I think everybody knows that. It’s pretty evident,” Maxey said. “Not just because of his basketball abilities, but like who he is as a person. … Our season was very, very, very bad last year … but we were blessed with VJ Edgecombe and I think as the Sixers organization, as a fanbase we should be very happy, very pleased and very thankful. I know I am.”
When a two-time All-Star and franchise cornerstone feels that way about you, you must be doing something right.
Of course it wasn’t long ago Maxey was in Edgecombe’s shoes. Maxey, selected 21st overall out of Kentucky in 2020, was a 20-year-old trying to find his way amongst stars and earn the trust of a veteran coach. While Maxey fought for minutes that entire season, Edgecombe has been a starter since opening night — and for damn good reason.
Edgecombe’s season has understandably been a bit up and down, but there’s never been a moment where his starting spot or role were in peril. That’s largely thanks to his scalability amongst stars, his feel — which seems beyond his years — and his propensity to show up in clutch moments.
All of that was on display Thursday. Edgecombe stuffed the stat sheet with 19 points, eight rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block. With the game still hanging in the balance, he hit big shots, made key defensive plays and secured critical rebounds.
It’s what the team has come to expect.
“When the lights were on in Boston [on opening night], for the whole four quarters, he was really good,” Maxey said. “That’s when you know somebody’s a big time performer. And then he went and did it in Madison Square Garden twice. Certain people you just know can perform when the lights are on and I knew I’d be able to trust him.”
Edgecombe already has the second-most threes for a rookie in Sixers history. The record holder? Allen Iverson, of course. There’s a decent chance that Edgecombe could break that mark as well.
As for Maxey’s record — which he will keep adding on to considering he’s 25 and on a long-term deal — it might be a while before Edgecombe gets there.
“I’m very happy for him,” Edgecombe said. “Now the record is going to be a little harder to break now. I’m going to try. Hopefully I can get there.”
Edgecombe has earned the respect of all his teammates, no small feat for a rookie in his spot. He even gave an impassioned defense of Joel Embiid, who nailed a game-sealing three while battling discomfort most of the night after getting kicked in the ribs.
“The media try to make it seem like he don’t want to play basketball,” Edgecombe said of Embiid. “Like come on, he’s out there in pain and he made a big shot at the end of the game. He barely could raise his right hand up. That just shows his character, too. He cares about winning. It’s Joel Embiid, bro.”
A rookie showing public support for a player who’s been through what Embiid has been through should only endear him more to the locker room — not that Maxey and company needed it.
Maxey’s support has meant everything to Edgecombe. They’re the ideal mentor-mentee backcourt pairing.
“‘Rese showed love from day one,” Edgecombe said. “It means a lot to me. Speaks to obviously who he is as a person, who he is as a player. I mostly just sit there and watch him work out, also. That’s it, man. He just means a lot.”