Philadelphia 76ers rookie V. J. Edgecombe accidentally kicked a Celtics fan in the face and still managed to befriend the woman on Sunday in Boston.
Edgecombe, a 20-year-old guard from the Bahamas, dove into the first row in pursuit of a loose ball at TD Garden. The Baylor product succeeded in saving the ball for the Sixers, but still went crashing into the crowd as his sneaker came down on the unidentified woman’s face.
Although she was left with a welt around her eye, the woman couldn’t help but smile – particularly after the budding NBA star gave her an apologetic hug. The heartwarming moment was no small accomplishment, given a decades-long Celtics-76ers rivalry that culminated with the infamous 1984 Larry Bird-Dr. J choking incident.
‘VJ went out of his way to make sure the fan was okay after such a scary tumble,’ a fan wrote on X. ‘Moments like these show that sports aren’t just about the game, they’re about the community and care between players and fans.’
Another fan remarked that ‘VJ [is] showing what true sportsmanship looks like.’
Unfortunately for Edgecombe and the Sixers, they fell to the rival Celtics, 114-98, on Sunday. Edgecombe had 23 points in 40 minutes, but Philadelphia was outscored by 14 points while he was on the floor.
Sixers rookie VJ Edgecombe hugs an unidentified Celtics fan after accidentally kicking her
The Baylor product succeeded in saving the ball, but still went crashing into the second row
Edgecombe had 23 points in 40 minutes, but Philadelphia was beaten by Boston at TD Garden
Although Dallas’ Cooper Flagg is widely expected to be named NBA Rookie of the Year, Edgecombe has been a major contributor for Philadelphia in 2025-26 and appears to be a lock for All-Rookie honors.
Through 55 games, the 6ft4 guard has averaged 15.3 points per night, while adding another 5.6 rebounds and 4.0 assists. He’s also considered a rising defensive prospect with tremendous upside on that end of the court.
‘He does kind of a lot of everything,’ Sixers coach Nick Nurse told reporters in October. ‘Obviously, he’s really good at just getting into his man and guarding and getting over screens. He does that at an amazing level, right? You can screen him all day and maybe never get him off his man sometimes when he’s locked in defensively. That’s pretty good.’
Nurse has also credited Edgecombe with being an intelligent player.
‘I’ve probably been most impressed with his IQ,’ Nurse said. ‘He really knows what’s happening. He asks super thoughtful questions. He learns something from the film one day and applies it immediately to the floor the next.
‘He’s rebounding, he’s blocking shots, he’s shooting probably better than we expected. He’s making plays at the rim. Offensively, there’s a lot of things that just are contributing to him being a good player.’
