Dwyane Wade approves of VJ Edgecombe comp

Philadelphia 76ers guard VJ Edgecombe has been among the top rookies in the NBA this season, and he’s drawn comparisons to former NBA star and Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade. As the 76ers squared off against the Chicago Bulls on Friday, Wade agreed with the comparisons saying that he sees a lot of his younger self in the explosive rookie.

“Very early on when I came into the league, I didn’t have a bag, I didn’t need to use it. I just used my speed and my quickness and my strength,” Wade said. “When I see VJ, I see VJ going downhill, the game is obviously open, it’s more spread, and so he’s a guy that once he plants that left foot, he’s going to the top of the roof. Just his ability to go downhill, beat his guy, beat that first guy and from there he takes off, it’s incredible.”

“I think one thing that Coach [Nick Nurse] mentioned that we don’t see is he does the little things,” Wade continued. “When I first came in, I didn’t have the ball in my hand a lot. I had to learn how to do the little things. . .a lot of similarities in just going downhill, being fearless as well. He’s a fearless player, he probably jumps a little higher than me,”

During the Amazon Prime broadcast of the 76ers’ matchup against the Bulls, a side by side comparison of VJ Edgecombe and Dwyane Wade through the first 24 games of their career was shown. Their points per game were similar with both of them at 16.0 points. Edgecombe has the advantage in rebounds with 5.5 compared to  Wade’s 4.4. Wade had the edge in assists with 4.2 compared to Edgecombe’s 4.0. And the Wade was ahead in steals at 1.4 and Edgecombe at 1.3.

Earlier in the season, Edgecombe was a frontrunner of the Rookie of the Year Award, and he most assuredly will be on the All-Rookie Team. The 76ers lost to the Bulls, 109-102 on Friday, and Edgecombe finished with 10 points, seven rebounds, three assists and one steal in a little over 33 minutes.