VJ Edgecombe aced his first test as an NBA player Wednesday night.
By Friday, he passed by some margin the necessary follow-up exam.
Edgecombe had the most offensively prolific debut for a rookie in NBA history since Wilt Chamberlain with a 34-point outing in a 117-116 76ers win over Boston. After a “Good Morning America” interview Thursday and practice in Camden on Friday, Edgecombe is unchanged by all the adulation.
“I played one NBA game,” he said Friday. “That doesn’t define who I am as a player.”
Even when it’s so glowing?
“It’s building blocks,” Edgecombe said. “Just trying to take steps in the right direction. I was watching film just now and learning, knowing teams’ tendencies, knowing what they do, and it’s just a steady progression.”
The third overall pick in the 2025 Draft was outstanding in his first NBA game. He shot 13-for-26 from the field (5-for-13 from 3-point range) to go with seven rebounds and three assists in a team-high 42 minutes. He was active in transition, pushing the pace for a Sixers team looking to play faster. He was effective both bringing the ball up the court and in being an option off the ball, as a driver or catch-and-shoot threat.
The moment, even in Boston, wasn’t too big for the guard. Nor was the praise it brought.
Edgecombe doesn’t see his historic debut as changing what he’ll face in Saturday’s home opener against Charlotte.
Even with the extra day between games, he hasn’t gotten time to be out in the city since his debut. But he’s felt the love — and, to a degree, the expectations — from the fanbase since joining a 24-win team that tanked for the better part of two months to retain the pick he was selected with.
One game hasn’t changed that, either.
“To be honest, I know Philly fans are passionate, so I’m expecting every game to be that, whether I had a good game or not,” he said. “I’m expecting it to be like that.”
Saturday’s opener brings Edgecombe into contact with another lottery pick. Charlotte was somehow worse than the 76ers last year, going 19-63, in part thanks to an 0-4 mark against the Sixers. That earned the No. 4 overall pick and the chance to draft Kon Knueppel.
The 6-6 guard from Duke started the Hornets’ opener, scoring 11 points on 4-for-6 shooting (3-for-4 from 3-point range), five rebounds and an assist in 25 minutes of a 136-117 win over Brooklyn.
Edgecombe very pointedly isn’t worried about what the early collision of picks might say about each.
“I’m not trying to compare myself,” Edgecombe said. “Comparison is the thief of joy. I’m trying to be happy on the floor. I’m trying to have fun. … My main goal is just to go in there and win.”
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Coach Nick Nurse confirmed that Joel Embiid was on a minutes restriction in the opener, with a ceiling of 20 minutes. The center hit that early in the fourth quarter, on 1-for-8 shooting and just four points.
Nurse assumed that 20 minutes or thereabouts will be the number Saturday, though he conceded, “it could slide at any time.”
As far as programming Embiid’s night, Nurse didn’t express much difficulty.
“There wasn’t much of a challenge,” he said. “We knew going into it what it was. It was very similar to the preseason game. And we had a plan of what we were going to do with it, and pretty much stuck to that plan.”
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The 76ers had another clean injury report at practice Friday, with everyone but Jared McCain (thumb) a full go.
Paul George (knee) and Trendon Watford (hamstring) practiced but were ruled out for Saturday.
“They’re out there doing some stuff,” Nurse said. “We’ve got a pretty heavy schedule coming up. It wasn’t a heavy practice, but they were part of all of it, and I’m just waiting for some cues of when they’ll be ready to go.”
• • •
Part of softening the blow of Embiid’s limits was the ongoing emergence of Dominick Barlow. The 6-9 forward who is on a two-way deal ended up logging 34 minutes, including at the center spot in the fourth quarter as the Sixers opted to match the Celtics’ small lineup.
Barlow scored 13 points to go with eight rebounds and five assists, shooting 4-for-8 from the field and 5-for-6 at the line.
He was a revelation in the preseason, and he’s making the most of Watford’s absence.
“I think Barlow has done one thing really well, which is play really hard,” Nurse said. “One-A would be crashing the glass. But he knows what he’s doing out there. He makes the right reads. He can take it off the bounce a bit. I think that’s something that should grow in his game. And I do believe that he’s going to shoot the ball at some point.”
A veteran of 96 games with the Spurs and Hawks since going undrafted in 2023, Barlow was projected as a depth piece. But he’s stating a case for more minutes. He fits the model of the lanky wings that Nurse molded into competent NBA players in Toronto.
“Dom is a really good player, really versatile player also,” Edgecombe said. “Someone that can stretch the floor and can attack the rim, offensive rebound. He does all the little things. Credit to Dom, I see him in here every day, working hard. He’s always working hard every day.”
