Although they entertained him in Philadelphia before the National Basketball Association’s 2025 Draft, Bimini native Valdez “VJ” Edgecombe Jr said he didn’t know the 76ers were selecting him with the third pick until about 15 seconds before the announcement was made.

“I had no clue what was going on,” said Edgecombe Jr as he sat on Wednesday night surrounded by his family and friends. 

He waited with anticipation as NBA Commissioner Adam Silver called his name as the pick by the 76ers. “I was just living in the moment until about 15 seconds before they told me I was going there. So they didn’t tell me anything, It was still up in the air about what was going on.”

The 19-year-old, 6-foot, 5-inch guard came out of Baylor University after completing his freshman year as a member of the Bears men’s basketball team where he averaged 15 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game.

“It’s surreal. I worked hard and everything has paid off,” said Edgecombe Jr as he spoke to the media in his post-draft interview. “The work doesn’t stop. 

“I’m definitely looking forward to going to Philly, making the team, getting ready for Summer League, training camp, all of that. So I’m focused on playing now.”

Edgecombe Jr, who reminded people of how he grew up playing basketball on concrete floors and was living in a home powered by a generator, said coming from an island that was seven miles long where “everybody knew everybody,” just to make it off the rock meant the world to him.

“It means the world to me and I know it means the world to the island and definitely to the country,” said Edgecombe Jr, who now joins a field of at least 10 Bahamians and descendants who played in the NBA.

He said he spent some long nights with his mother, Bendra Rolle, providing a generator for them to utilise for seven years while living on Bimini.

“Man, seeing what she had to go through to feed us, man it’s crazy,” an emotional Edgecombe Jr said. “It’s crazy. It’s crazy. Man I don’t even know. My ma, my ma is my everything right now.”

In being selected by the 76ers following the top pick by the Dallas Mavericks for Cooper Flagg and the San Antonio Spurs with Dylan Harper at No.2, Edgecombe Jr could earn at least $11.1 million this season, which would definitely change his family’s life. 

As for the 76ers, Daryl Morey, the president of Basketball Operations, said they did their due diligence on scrutinising Edgecombe Jr before they made their final choice.

Morey admitted that the 76ers have a pretty detailed process that enables them to evaluate the players from the high school level and everything they did before college and any involvement with their national team programmes. 

“I think we were seriously considering pretty much. Early in the process it was about six and it was down to four and then we were deliberating up until the last days down to who we would pick and as we dug in, we felt like VJ was by far the best choice there,” he said.

In joining a potent backcourt for the 76ers that is led by Tyrese Maxey and Jared McCain, Edgecombe Jr said Maxey has already taken him under his wings as they not only worked out, but they went to dinner and discussed the intricacies of the NBA and, in particular, Philadelphia.

He didn’t get a chance to meet centre Joel Embiid or forward Paul George, whom Morey said both were unavailable at the time of Edgecombe Jr’s visit. But Edgecombe Jr said he looks up to the players, especially George, and he can’t wait to get the opportunity to play with all of them in the 76ers organisation.

“I’m just going to go out there and whatever coach needs me to do, I’m gonna do,” said Edgecombe Jr, who admitted that he’s now playing against men who are fighting for their jobs to maintain their families. “If they require me coming off the bench or starting, or playing alongside Maxey or McCain or playing with both of them, it doesn’t matter. I’m going there to play. Whatever coach (Nick) Nurse needs me to do, I’m going to do.”

Edgecombe Jr follows Chavano “Buddy” Hield, who played in Philadelphia last year with Bahamian descendant Eric Gordon. But Edgecombe Jr said he’s grateful to Hield, whom he called his “dawg,” even though he’s now playing with the Golden State Warriors. 

“He’s here right now actually. He came just to show love. It means a lot. It goes a long way,” said Edgecombe Jr of his relationship with Hield, a native from Grand Bahama. 

“He shows that he actually cares about me. He cares about my future. 

“He cares about me as a person. 

“It’s his old team, but Buddy had nothing but good things to say. He’s a great person, great energy, great personality.”

Last summer in Valencia, Spain, Edgecombe Jr teamed up with Hield, Gordon and Deandra Ayton, the second Bahamian to be drafted as the No.1 pick in 2018 (with Mychal “Sweet Bells”  Thompson as the first with the Portland Trail Blazers in 1978, the first foreign born player to go No.1).

Edgecombe Jr, Hield, Ayton and Gordon represented The Bahamas on the men’s national basketball team, making it to the finals of the qualifying tournament for the Olympic Games.

But The Bahamas fell short of advancing to Paris, France, after losing to Spain in the championship game. 

Spain was awarded the only spot out of the region for the Olympics.

With The Bahamas producing so many players who are excelling in other sports, especially in New York, Edgecombe Jr was asked if he’s met Yankees’ Major League infielder Jasrado “Jazz” Chisholm Jr or WNBA centre Jonquel Jones of the Liberty.

“I’ve met everyone else besides those two,” he chuckled, hoping that it won’t be long before their paths cross, especially since it didn’t happen at Barclays Center on Wednesday night. 

In the meantime, with The Bahamas watching, Edgecombe Jr said just like how he was encouraged by Hield and other Bahamian sporting personalities, he hopes he will inspire the next generation as he does all he can to help motivate the next player to follow in his footsteps.