VJ Edgecombe went from living off of a generator to playing for the Philadelphia 76ers: “We’re from Bimini. Our island is seven miles long, half a mile wide. So if a tsunami come, pray for us! But seriously, things like this don’t happen for our people every day. Getting to the NBA is hard. Getting to the NBA from Bimini? I don’t know the exact odds, but it’s gotta be like 0.000001% chance. That’s probably not even enough zeros, to be honest.... Growing up, I spent most of my time outside in the yard playing with my cousins or on a court somewhere with my friends. We didn’t have electricity running through the house during the daytime usually. We didn’t have everything we wanted, but we had everything we needed, you know? My mom made sure of that. Being raised by her and my grandma was honestly the biggest blessing. They always preached that manners and respect would get you far in the world. And Mom made sure she disciplined us when she know we do something that ain’t right! I used to get a lot of whoopin’s. Haha. I got the most out of my mom kids for sure.... I started hooping when I was seven or eight, because of Sugar. He influenced youth basketball on the whole island, starting from my mom’s generation. It was his dream to give back to our community.... When he held basketball camps, he made sure to invite every kid out to the park, to help us get better and see who really loved the game. We used to have really intense games. But we were just kids enjoying ourselves. We played all the time at a court we call The Pond. And we played in a park — we call this place The Field. I had an aunt that lived nearby, and when the sun started to set, she used to come outside and holler at us.... Some nights I didn’t want to go, but then she’d say she’s going to call my mom, and I’m going to get whooped. Hahah. So that was the only way to get me away from the courts.” playerstribu.ne/VJ @vj_edgecombe | @sixers | @BaylorMBB