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Sixers Rookie Wins Rising Stars MVP at NBA All-Star Weekend

VJ Edgecombe put on a show during the Castrol Rising Stars on Friday night.
Bryan Toporek|
Feb 13, 2026; Inglewood, California, USA; Team Vince guard VJ Edgecombe (77) of the Philadelphia 76ers reacts with the MVP trophy after defeating Team Melo during an NBA All Star Rising Stars championship game at Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Feb 13, 2026; Inglewood, California, USA; Team Vince guard VJ Edgecombe (77) of the Philadelphia 76ers reacts with the MVP trophy after defeating Team Melo during an NBA All Star Rising Stars championship game at Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

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Philadelphia 76ers

The 2026 NBA All-Star Weekend kicked off Friday in Los Angeles, and Sixers rookie VJ Edgecombe put on a show.

Edgecombe was selected for the Castrol Rising Stars as a member of Team Vince. In his first game against Team T-Mac, he had a game-high 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting (including 3-of-4 from deep). He scored the final 10 points of the game for Team Vince to put his squad into the Rising Stars championship.

Edgecombe wasn't quite as loud in the championship game against Team Melo, although like he has time and again with the Sixers this year, he made his impact felt in crunch time.

With Team Vince clinging to a 19-17 lead, Edgecombe stole a pass from Jeremiah Fears and Carter Bryant scored on an alley-oop from Kyshawn George on the ensuing possession. After Team Melo went up 22-21, Edgecombe came up with an offensive rebound and a putback off a George miss to put his squad within one basket of the target score of 25.

Stephon Castle returned the favor for Team Melo, putting his team within one point of the championship. But Edgecombe promptly drove to the basket, got fouled and calmly knocked down both free throws to win the game.

That performance earned Edgecombe the Rising Stars MVP award, which put him in some notable company.

Who else has won Rising Stars MVP?

Edgecombe is not the first Sixers player to win the Rising Stars MVP. Allen Iverson earned that honor in 1997, while Andre Iguodala also won it in 2006. Those are two of the greatest Sixers over the past 30 years.

Castle was named Rising Stars MVP last year and is already blasting toward star status. Bennedict Mathurin (2024) and Jose Alvarado (2023) don't have quite the same ceiling, but Cade Cunningham (2022), Jamal Murray (2017) and Zach LaVine (2026) later became All-Stars.

Going back further, Kevin Durant (2009), Tyreke Evans (2010), John Wall (2011) and Kyrie Irving (2012) won the Rising Stars MVP during a four-year stretch starting in the late 2000s. However, it is no way predictive of stardom, as Kenneth Faried (2013), Bogdan Bogdanović (2018) and Kyle Kuzma (2019) were also named Rising Stars MVPs.

The Rising Stars weren't playing playoff-caliber defense by any means, but they also weren't loafing to the same extent that the main All-Stars have in recent years. Edgecombe's athleticism and explosiveness is tailor-made to pop in an environment like All-Star Weekend, and pop it did.

After the game, he expressed hope that this was the only the first championship that he'd win this year.

Edgecombe did say earlier Friday that he believed the Sixers were the team to beat in the East when healthy. If he continues playing like he did during the Rising Stars games, he might have a point.

Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM.

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Bryan Toporek
BRYAN TOPOREK

Bryan Toporek has been covering the Sixers for the past 15-plus years at various outlets, including Liberty Ballers, Bleacher Report, Forbes Sports and FanSided. Against all odds, he still trusts the Process.

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