The Philadelphia 76ers are only four games into the season, but they may have already rekindled the flames of excitement around the team.
On Wednesday night, the Sixers opened the 2025-2026 NBA season against the Jaylen Brown-led Boston Celtics. The Sixers, who had possibly the most disappointing season of any team in the league last year, were able to steal an impressive win in Boston to make them officially 1-0 on the season.
The team would go on to face and defeat the Charlotte Hornets, the Orlando Magic, and, most recently, the Washington Wizards.
While a 4-0 record in an 82-game season isn’t typically impressive enough to warrant a full buy-in, this Sixers team has shown that they aren’t a team to be taken for granted this year, for multiple reasons.
First and foremost, if Hall of Fame criteria were based solely on debuts, V.J. Edgecombe would be one of the greatest of all time. The former Baylor guard earned the start in his first game and, after his performance, will likely not have to forfeit it.
Edgecombe exploded in his debut, scoring 34 points, grabbing seven rebounds, and dishing out three assists while going 13/26 from the field. And with that scoring total, Edgecombe broke the Sixers franchise record for most points scored in a debut. Hall of Famer Allen Iverson had previously set the record at 30.
Also impressive was the way Edgecombe opened up his debut. The young guard played his first quarter in one of the most hostile environments at TD Garden and rose to the occasion. In the first quarter alone, Edgecombe scored 14 points, breaking the NBA record for most points in a debut quarter, previously set by one of the greatest players in NBA history, LeBron James.
Since then, Edgecombe has continued to excite and expand his game far beyond what folks are accustomed to seeing from a rookie.
It really has been more than just scoring with Edgecombe, though. He and Maxey fit perfectly next to each other, looking like the perfect complement to each other. Edgecombe ran the floor nearly every time with Maxey in transition and flashed his athletic potential every time he moved to the basket.
Speaking of Maxey, the sixth-year guard out of Kentucky opened his season with a 40 bomb, tying a Sixers franchise record for most points in a season opener and has since looked like a legitimate first star for Philadelphia. While Edgecombe is the (Liberty) Bell of the Ball right now, Maxey deserves his flowers for his dominant performance to start the season.
There is still some concern about Sixers' centerpiece and former MVP Joel Embiid, who did start against the Celtics but clearly struggled in his initial return to action. Against Charlotte, Embiid looked a fair bit more like himself.
Instead, players like Edgecombe and Maxey stepped up big in the scoring department, while others like Dominick Barlow and Adem Bona were able to fill in as the primary big men this game.
Flash forward to the Sixers' most recent game, down in Washington. After another nightmare third-quarter performance, the Sixers roared back in the fourth, storming back from a 16-point deficit, ending the quarter on a 10-0 run to force overtime, where, despite playing on the road in the second night of a back-to-back, they outscored the Wizards 13-8 to continue their perfect start to the season.
In all four of their games this season, the Sixers have stumbled in the third, but rallied in the fourth, eventually finding a path to victory.
While it is far too early to call this Sixers squad a championship contender — especially after witnessing how quickly injuries can derail a campaign — the Sixers have earned some trust. A Sixers team that can show up, even when Embiid is either not his old self or even on the bench, has been a pipe dream for Sixers fans for a long, long time. For the first time in a while, the Sixers may have finally found a team that can do that.
