The Philadelphia 76ers entered Wednesday night’s NBA Draft with the No. 3 pick and an opportunity to garner some positive interest in a city that clearly tuned out early and in disgust from a season that started with promise and quickly descended into sports hell.
That apathy was hard to ignore as bars and fans across Philly opted for a midseason Phillies game rather than the 76ers’ big swing.
What they missed was the 76ers picking athletic guard V.J. Edgecombe, 19. And while Edgecombe may prove to be a solid contributor on court, he introduced himself off-court as a caring son with a humble demeanor.
Edgecombe stepped in during his introductory interview on ESPN when an interviewer directed the first question to his mother, who was clearly overcome by emotion.
“I’m going to talk right now,” he said. “We came from nothing. We came from nothing, man. We’re truly blessed to be in this position. I know the emotions are high right now, so I’m just going to let her be right now. But we came from nothing. This is why the emotions are so high right now.”
“We lived off a generator for seven years; we ain’t have no electricity,” said a teary-eyed Edgecombe in his post-draft interview. “Seeing what [my mom] had to go through to feed us, it’s crazy.”
Aubrey Loftus, watching the draft in Pizzata Pizzeria & Birreria, was touched.
“He seems like a sweet guy; that moment with his mom was really nice,” said Loftus, who described herself as “the biggest” Tyrese Maxey fan.
Sixers president Daryl Morey spoke to Edgecombe’s composure and maturity, too.
“I’m excited for everyone to meet him,” Morey said at the team’s watch party after the pick. “It’s a little hard to describe. He’s very mature for his age; for being under 20 he carries himself like he’s already been in the league, which I don’t think is easy. Two, I think you saw it, the love in his family if you were watching the telecast, obviously a lot of people have that … I’m just excited to get to know him.”
No juice at the moment
There hasn’t been much excitement about the Sixers since the start of last season.
While Loftus’ fandom may live and die with Maxey, she said there was a time when she was enwrapped with 76ers basketball, but last season soured her interest.
“This year, my interest [in the 76ers] was at like a solid 6, but I’ve had times when I was a 10,” said Loftus. “Last season was hard to watch. At the end, I’m like, ‘I don’t know anybody on this team anymore.’ “
Those hard watches that Loftus endured were what landed the 76ers the third pick in the draft. The team won just 24 of their 82 games last season in a disappointing campaign that echoed the “Process Sixer” years of the mid-2010s, when the team notched 10, 18, and 19 wins in consecutive seasons in an attempt to accrue top draft picks.
Still, the 76ers are just a year removed from seven straight years of 43 or more wins and the roster retains some intriguing young talent Loftus’ beloved Maxey and Jared McCain, a second-year player who appeared destined to be the NBA Rookie of the Year until he was injured last January.
Even so, it seems, fans’ optimism is stunted by the questions surrounding former toast of the town Joel Embiid. A seemingly never-ending series of injuries and an inability to lift the team in the biggest moments of the playoffs has left many fans frustrated.
Embiid was a hot topic among draft watchers who spoke to Billy Penn on Wednesday night. One such fan was Tim Gleason, who shared that his dream draft night involved the 76ers trading away the former MVP.
“I hope they find somebody willing to give Embiid what he wants and get him off our hands,” Gleason said. “I’d be sorry to see him go. He’s been here for 10 years and hasn’t gotten it done.”
Embiid, the NBA’s 2022-2023 MVP has yet to see a conference finals and played just 19 games last season, an unfortunately frequent occurrence in the 31-year-old superstar’s 11-year career with the 76ers.
“I’ve lived in Philly for seven and a half years, and Embiid has been the person that will get us to the moment, and he’s failed us every time,” Don Wieand said. “I don’t blame him, but we need to move past this.”
As a sign of the Sixers’ diminished standing in the town’s sports pecking order, the draft was on the back burner on TVs, which showed the Phillies game with the Astros on a larger screen. At Human Robot and Los Caballitos Cantina, the draft wasn’t on at all.
This seemed to sit fine with many who were Philly fans first or tuned out to the 76ers altogether.
“I would say my interest [for the 76ers] is at a 1; I don’t care,” said Seán Varna. “Yeah, 1,” added Paisley Fields in agreement, sitting with Varna at Stogie Joe’s Tavern Wednesday night.
For some, it won’t be wins or trading Embiid, but rather a show of heart from players that might ignite the interest and earn the 76ers some screen time in town.
“There’s not a lot you need to do in this city to gain respect outside of leaving it all on the court,” Jeffery Fuller said. “I think the problem with this Sixers team is Embiid hasn’t done that.”
Against this sea of disinterest stood Charles Monroe, a 76er faithful who watched the draft at Michael’s Place in South Philly, which had the draft on not one but two TVs for a small group of 76er fanatics, including Monroe, a fan for 48 years who rated his interest at 12 out of 10.
“Everybody wants instant everything. So they want to be good right now,” said Monroe. “But when you’re a true fan, you stick through it all.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
