VJ Edgecombe’s injury absence sucks life out of Sixers’ Las Vegas summer league opener
The San Antonio Spurs, who played without No. 2 overall draft pick Dylan Harper, drubbed the Sixers, 111-70, in what was expected to be a showcase matchup Thursday night at Thomas & Mack Center.
LAS VEGAS — VJ Edgecombe started to groove to the music with Justin Edwards, then fired a handful of shots from the left wing of the Thomas & Mack Center court.
Unfortunately for the 76ers, this occurred at 10:49 Thursday morning — not during the team’s matchup against the San Antonio Spurs hours later.
Edgecombe missed his third consecutive summer league game with a thumb sprain, upending the momentum from a dazzling debut for the Sixers less than a week ago. His absence continues to put a damper on what had been expected to be a long-awaited splash of excitement following the Sixers’ disastrous 2024-25 regular season, directly leading to their opportunity to slide up to third in the draft lottery and select the electric guard.
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The most jarring example yet: What should have been a tantalizing opening night in Las Vegas — the Spurs’ No. 2 overall pick, Dylan Harper, also sat out the game with a groin injury — swiftly descended into a 111-70 dud.
“He gave us — you guys saw — so many great things on both ends of the court [in that first game],” Sixers summer league coach T.J. DiLeo said of Edgecombe. “We’d love to have him out there. They [the medical staff] tell me if he’s in or not, and then I go from there.”
Sixers-Spurs closed out the first slate of NBA 2K26 Summer League games on UNLV’s campus, and was clearly designed to be a showcase matchup of top-3 prospects. It is nobody’s fault that injuries derailed those plans, and these nights in July likely won’t matter much come October.
But one could feel the juice fizzle out of the gym Thursday, especially following the matchup between top overall draft pick Cooper Flagg and the Dallas Mavericks, and the wildly popular Bronny James and the Los Angeles Lakers.
Fans erupted when Flagg and James threw down dunks during warm-ups. Before tipoff, the public-address announcer called the meeting the day’s “Main Event.”
The crowd that pushed into the upper deck briefly swelled in anticipation when James stepped in to guard Flagg on an early possession. Then it roared when Flagg followed a steal and breakaway dunk with a fadeaway jumper. And, later, the fans rose to their feet as James dribbled out the fourth quarter’s waning seconds, before misfiring on a potential game-winning three-pointer.
By the time the Sixers’ game tipped off, thousands of spectators had cleared out of the arena bowl to find alternative entertainment options in Sin City.
Edgecombe will be reevaluated Saturday, per the team’s official update issued Wednesday night. DiLeo on Thursday morning praised the guard for still “paying attention to everything we’re doing,” even while missing out on those game reps.
Thursday night, Edgecombe was often attached to Jared McCain, emerging from the tunnel with the second-year guard during the Lakers-Mavericks matchup and then sitting next to him during their own game. During timeouts, Edgecombe floated to the Sixers’ huddle, or dribbled a basketball in his light blue hoodie.
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“He’s eager to learn,” teammate Adem Bona added of Edgecombe. “Even when he’s not playing, he’s asking questions. … I think that’s really important, when you’re off the floor or when you’re not with the team. You’re still trying to learn and trying to understand what the team needs from you. That’s the big thing that I’ve noticed about him.”
Edgecombe and McCain watched their teammates continue to struggle mightily to dribble, pass, or initiate offense. So did former NBA standouts Baron Davis and Tayshaun Prince, who briefly sat courtside but left in the second quarter, after Davis uttered, “Jared McCain ain’t playing, either?!” to anyone within earshot. By the time Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama arrived just before halftime, his team had already built a 30-point advantage.
So the showcase matchup to cap Vegas’ opening night became the exact opposite. And as long as Edgecombe remains sidelined, the most anticipated Sixers summer league in years continues to be a bummer.