CHICAGO — Philadelphia 76ers rookie VJ Edgecombe has gotten off to a great start to his NBA career. The No. 3 overall pick is averaging 19.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 4.9 assists through the first seven games of his career. He has been terrific and has shown off a high basketball IQ on the floor.
The one challenge for Edgecombe has been the amount of games that pile up quickly in the NBA. This isn’t college anymore and in the NBA, there are back-to-backs and that means minutes played can slow a player down as it has with Edgecombe in certain situations.
For example, in his first back-to-back on Oct. 28 against the Washington Wizards, Edgecombe had 14 points on 4-for-12 shooting and played 40 minutes after playing 39 the night before. The rookie recently admitted he has been seeking advice from the veterans on the roster of how to handle the B2Bs, and as he prepares for another one on Wednesday, Tyrese Maxey gives his thoughts.
“You kind of just got to go through it,” Maxey said after the loss to the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday. “Honestly, especially, the minutes that he’s playing and, like, I didn’t play those minutes in my rookie year. So if you want to be honest with you? Back to back? I knew I was going to play the next back-to-back. So I was ready.”
To Maxey’s point, he averaged only 15.3 minutes per game as a rookie in the 2020-21 season compared to the 38.7 minutes Edgecombe plays per game heading into Wednesday. That is a lot for anybody to handle, let alone a 20-year-old who is still trying to establish himself in the league.
“In his defense, he’s playing both ends of the back-to-back a lot of minutes,” Maxey finished. “So it is difficult. Like, I think I just learned how to kind of navigate them, honestly, and I’m in year 6. It takes time. It’s difficult, but he’s a professional so he’ll figure it out.”
The Sixers and the Cavaliers will tip off at 7 p.m. EST on Wednesday.
This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Tyrese Maxey talks Sixers rookie VJ Edgecombe handling back-to-backs
