V.J. Edgecombe didn’t sound like a rookie trying to play it cool. He sounded like someone who just watched his basketball dream get a whole lot bigger.
On Chiney Today with Chiney Ogwumike, the Philadelphia 76ers star opened up about his reaction to LeBron James joining the team, and the excitement came through loud and clear. Edgecombe said he has long looked up to LeBron and sees the chance to learn from him as a major step in his own growth.
“I don’t know LeBron. Like, I love LeBron, don’t get me wrong.
I just never… like, I met him. Obviously, we played against each other.
Obviously, that’s who I looked up to when it comes to basketball and stuff like that. That’s one of the reasons why I started playing ball, when he was in Miami.
But I ain’t know him.”
He also admitted he kept pressing Tyrese for answers before the move became official.
“But I kept calling Tyrese, and I was like, ‘Are we getting Bron? Are we getting Bron?’
And Tyrese is like, ‘Bro, I don’t know. I don’t think so.’
But he knew the whole time. But he ain’t want to tell me.
That’s what I feel. I might be wrong.”
The moment Edgecombe found out was just as memorable. He said he was in the middle of a workout when the news started buzzing around him.
“I was on the court in the middle of a workout. So I’m literally working out.
Coach’s Apple Watch kept going off and off and off. He’s like, ‘Damn, what’s happening?’
And then, yeah. He’s like, ‘Yeah, we just got Bron.’
I’m like, ‘You’re lying.’ The equipment guys came up.
The medical guy came up. ‘We just got Bron.’
So I stopped working out, went to my phone. I saw Shams’ tweet.
We got Bron. I’m like, ‘Oh, okay.’
So I finished my workout, and then I went back to it.”
Edgecombe also pointed out that LeBron wasn’t the only major addition Philadelphia made this summer.
“I mean, obviously, we got Bron, we also got Jaylen Brown that people are forgetting now. You know, that we got, even though we got Bron, it’s like, you also got the MVP candidate also.
Obviously, the look of our team is different now. We got four All-Stars, hopefully five one day, you know.
And all of us being on the floor at the same time, it’s going to be great. It’s going to be great.”
For Edgecombe, though, the appeal goes beyond the roster math. He said he’s eager to soak up as much knowledge as he can from LeBron, Jaylen Brown, Joel and Maxey.
“But for me, I’m just willing… I’m just happy to learn. I’m gonna ask Bron so many questions, ask JB so many questions.
I already ask Joel and Maxey so many questions… I’m just happy to go learn. To me, the greatest player of all time, I’m playing alongside him.
I’m just trying to see anything I can learn, get any bits and pieces.”
Not everyone has viewed LeBron’s arrival through the same lens. Kwame Brown recently suggested that the move could turn the Sixers into a circus and said Edgecombe’s development might take a hit. Draymond Green also said Edgecombe would be the biggest loser because he would not have the same chance to dominate the ball.
Edgecombe, though, doesn’t seem bothered by that conversation. He sounds focused on the chance in front of him - learning from one of the greatest players in NBA history, and doing it while coming off a rookie season in which he averaged 16.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 4.2 assists while shooting 43.8% from the field and 25.4% from three-point range.
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