Star Rookie Talks About His Rough Upbringing

VJ Edgecombe is having a hell of a rookie season. He started the season like he was shot out of a cannon. While everyone believed in his potential (he was the third overall pick in the draft, after all), nobody thought he would be that good so quickly.

While Edgecombe has come back down to earth from his hot start, he is still having an incredible rookie campaign. As of Tuesday, he is averaging 16.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.4 steals per game. That puts him third among rookies in scoring and assists, sixth in rebounding, and first in steals.

Edgecombe recently wrote for The Players' Tribune about how unlikely it was that he made the NBA at all due to his rough upbringing. 

“We’re from Bimini. Our island is seven miles long, half a mile wide. So if a tsunami come, pray for us! But seriously, things like this don’t happen for our people every day. Getting to the NBA is hard. Getting to the NBA from Bimini? I don’t know the exact odds, but it’s gotta be like 0.000001% chance. That’s probably not even enough zeros, to be honest....

Growing up, I spent most of my time outside in the yard playing with my cousins or on a court somewhere with my friends. We didn't have electricity running through the house during the daytime, usually. We didn't have everything we wanted, but we had everything we needed, you know? My mom made sure of that. Being raised by her and my grandma was honestly the biggest blessing."

Defying the odds to make the NBA is one thing. Becoming one of the best young players in the league is another altogether. It sounds like Edgecombe has some great perspective about how hard he had to work and how fortunate he is to be where he is. That should only fuel him to become even greater.