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VJ Edgecombe: 'The player I watch more than anyone is Anthony Edwards'
VJ Edgecombe: I like to learn from everybody, but the player I watch more than anyone is Anthony Edwards. Him being a two-way player, and he is able to play with and without the rock and play alongside other great players. - VJ
Quentin Grimes: You have to stay ready and keep preparing yourself. I was in the gym every night—getting my shots, getting treatment, watching guys like Kyrie and Klay—how they take care of their bodies, how they get up extra shots before and after practice. How disciplined they are with their routines—that really focused me. It changed my mindset. I knew opportunities were going to come, and I had to be ready for them.
Kenyon Martin says he can name 200 players better than Draymond Green
Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod 🇸🇴: Kenyon Martin says he could name 200 players that are better players than Draymond Green: “That man’s individual body of work is cool but I can list 200 players that’s better than Draymond Green, is he better than LeMarcus Aldridge, Al Jefferson or Elton Brand I can go all day”
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Paul George: 'If I'm in free agency, I'm not picking Charlotte just because there's no winning culture there'
But like every athlete facing a major decision, the choice is rarely simple. PG-13 himself pointed to two key factors that carry real weight: the city and the culture surrounding the team. On both fronts, the Hornets present a tough call — one George said he'd rather stay away from. "Listen, if I'm in free agency, I'm not picking Charlotte just because there's no winning culture there," the 76er emphasized. "Charlotte is an amazing city. Would love to play for it, because of the city — like, I can see myself living there. But in terms of a basketball standpoint, I'm not going. My career is over if I go there."
Joel Embiiid: James Harden is not talking to me
It's a principled stance, but it's also a desire to have something his talent and status will not allow him: innocence. When Embiid plays his latest sports video game obsession, "MLB The Show," he trades and trades until his team is invulnerable, only then does he play, securing in make believe what he cannot in life -- a guarantee against his doubts, his silence, his bad luck, his frailty, his complicity. "No one knows this, but even James [Harden] is not talking to me," Embiid tells me. "That's the part I don't like about being 'that guy,' because it puts you in the middle of those situations. Because if you ask James, he probably believes I had something to do with him not being here. And I'm just like, 'I won the scoring title. You won the assists title. We had a pick-and-roll that was unstoppable.'" "It hurts when you feel like you haven't done anything wrong," he continues. "When you think you have a relationship like that with somebody ... you lose a lot."
VJ Edgecombe on his jersey number: “I chose 77 because all my other numbers were taken.”
Tony Jones: VJ Edgecombe, Justin Edwards and Adem Bona are all out for the Philadelphia 76ers tonight, according to sources This is simply because the Sixers are playing the second half of a back to back. It isn’t anything injury related.
Joel Embiid doubles down on pushing reporter for bringing up his late brother
When the columnist showed up in the locker room the next day, the two men came face to face. "The next time you bring up my dead brother and my son again, you are going to see what I'm going to do to you," Embiid said. The altercation ended when Embiid shoved the columnist and Sixers staff stepped in between them. The NBA suspended Embiid three games without pay. Months later, the column still gnaws at him. "I don't care if the NBA wants to fine me $1 million, $2 million, $5 million, $10 million, I would still do it," Joel Embiid says. "If he walked up to me just like he did, I would push him away again."
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Embiid hasn't stopped blaming himself for leaving his brother in Cameroon to play basketball in 2011. Francois Nyam, one of his agents in 2014, called Embiid the night Arthur died. He says the first thing Embiid managed to say after sobbing was, "That's my fault. I'm a piece of s---." Embiid's family had planned to be together on draft night in 2014, but after Embiid's first foot surgery, doctors told him not to fly. He remained in Los Angeles at his agent's home while Arthur stayed with family friends on the East Coast before returning to Cameroon. The accident happened nearly four months later. The brothers hadn't seen each other in three years. "It's never going to change," Embiid says, all but whispering. "I still feel it."
WEEKS AFTER the locker room altercation in November, the Sixers held a closed-door meeting to address the team's calamitous 2-11 start. Details of the meeting leaked the following day. Maxey, whom Embiid considers one of his best friends, confronted Embiid about being late for team events and dragging the morale of the group down. Embiid told a reporter, "Whoever leaked that is a real piece of s---." He reportedly vowed to find the source. "I know who leaked it," Embiid tells me during a late-night phone call after the season ends. "You do?" "Yeah, but I'm not going to -- the past is the past," Embiid says. "The one thing I'll say is, it's hard being around people that do those sorts of stuff. "That goes back to the trust thing. Once you cross that -- you can't expect me to be part of a team meeting again. That's just not going to happen."
"Shams, when exactly did this injury occur, and how will it impact the rest of PG’s offseason here?" Shams Charania: "I'm told Paul George suffered the injury during an on-court workout last week. He visited a doctor on Friday, and the decision was made to undergo arthroscopic surgery. Doctors felt this was an injury that would linger. He was never fully healthy last season—ending the season rehabbing from groin, knee, and finger injuries. He’ll be re-evaluated at the start of training camp, and both sides plan to be cautious. They want to see full-form Paul George, which they haven't seen in Philly."
Chase Hughes: Alex Sarr, Bub Carrington, Kyshawn George, Tre Johnson III and Will Riley are all OUT tonight against the Sixers, per the team. Johnson III is out with right hamstring tightness, Riley with left thumb soreness. They're day-to-day. Starters: AJ Johnson, Leaky Black, Dillon Jones, Jamir Watkins, Liam Robbins
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