More often than not, drawing comparisons with current NBA stars or legends from the past yielded overblown estimations. However, given how sensational VJ Edgecombe has been for the Philadelphia 76ers in his rookie year, it is objectively hard not to see shades of some of the best guards the league has ever seen.
Heck, even the pundits are seeing the same. Bill Simmons, a longtime NBA analyst, recently said on record that Edgecombe might actually be Dwyane Wade, which makes a ton of sense from a stylistic point of view. After all, the 76ers rookie does resemble the Heat legend in a plethora of ways.
Wade, who was a first-ballot Hall of Famer, left a legacy as arguably the third or fourth-best guard in league history. He was a raging ball of energy on both ends, bringing a lethal combination of athleticism, finesse, basketball IQ, and gutsy mentality to the table on both ends of the floor at his very best. So far, those are some of the traits that Edgecombe seems to have in his bag.
VJ Edgecombe is definitely looking poised to have a similar career to Dwyane Wade
To feed into this comparison, it also helps that Wade and Edgecombe almost have identical numbers in their rookie seasons. The former averaged 16.2 points, four rebounds, and 4.5 assists per ball game in his freshman campaign whereas the latter is currently turning in 16.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per outing.
Of course, there is some variance between their games. Wade is a better defender than Edgecombe even when he was just starting out, while Edgecombe does have the longer range as he can hit the three-ball with volume and consistency.
Having said that, Edgecombe’s mentality as a rugged competitor simply oozes Wade energy. He is utterly confident in his abilities even as a freshman, and most impressive is the fact that he never seems to get too high or too low about any kind of situation he is in. Despite still getting acclimated to the level of play in the league, he is already solidifying his footing as a budding star.
Of course, VJ Edgecombe will fare the best when he is playing like VJ Edgecombe. But if he flirts with the level of play Dwyane Wade was able to sustain for most of his career, then the Philadelphia 76ers should have no problems contending for titles as long as he is with the franchise. Phone it in.