BOSTON — VJ Edgecombe’s eyes widened and his head leaned against his locker when he was told he had just scored more points than any player in his NBA debut since Wilt Chamberlain first laced up his canvas high-top sneakers.
“I’ve worked every day and my whole life for moments like this. This is my dream,” the Philadelphia 76ers rookie said after scoring 34 points in his first professional game, a 117-116 win over the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night.
“I prayed about it. I always prayed about getting to the NBA and staying there,” Edgecombe said. “Man, yeah, it was crazy. It exceeded my expectations, to be honest.”
A Bahamian native who was the Big 12 Rookie of the Year in his lone season at Baylor, Edgecombe scored the third-most points by an NBA player in his first game. Chamberlain scored 43 points in his 1959 debut for the Philadelphia Warriors and also grabbed 28 rebounds that night against New York. Frank Selvy scored 35 points for the Milwaukee Hawks against Boston in 1954.
Allen Iverson held the Sixers record with 30 points in his debut in 1996.
“It’s an incredible performance in Game 1. It really is,” Sixers coach Nick Nurse said. “It’s a great list to put on.”
Edgecombe’s 14 points in the first quarter were also the most for a player’s first NBA quarter. This record was set by LeBron James in 2003.
“It feels good to have my name mentioned with LeBron,” Edgecombe said. “I have to say it’s amazing. But I hope [I’m] I will have a long career ahead of me. That’s what mattered most, man: longevity. Knowing that LeBron has been there for over 20 years. So I hope I can do it one day.”
Edgecombe made 13 of 26 from the field and 5 of 13 from 3-point range, adding 7 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal. He scored 10 straight Sixers points in the first quarter and nine in the fourth, when Philadelphia erased a 13-point deficit to win its season opener.
Sixers forward Dominick Barlow said what he remembers about his debut, when he scored two points for San Antonio in a 43-point loss after missing the first eight games of the season, is “I played 10 minutes. I was tired as hell, I went 1 of 3. I didn’t do anything.”
“He was so collected and so calm. You don’t see it,” said Barlow, who was a teammate of 2023 No. 1 pick Victor Wembanyama with the Spurs. “It was special to see how [Edgecombe] is doing well.”
Edgecombe managed to stand out at a party. All-Star teammate Tyrese Maxey scored a game-high 40 points. Edgecombe and Maxey’s combined 74 points were tied for the second-most by a duo in a season opener in NBA history, behind James Harden and Christian Wood’s 75 points for the Rockets in 2020.
“He played really well,” said Maxey, whose memories of his first game include going out of bounds with the ball on his first play. “He was really comfortable. He was really confident. Extremely confident.”
And Maxey made sure to tease Edgecombe for missing two free throws with 8.5 seconds left and the Sixers holding a one-point lead, yelling at him across the locker room: “Hey, [No.] 77. You’re definitely a little nervous at the free throw line.
The Associated Press and ESPN Research contributed to this report.
