We all love a good player comparison, but in recent years, they’ve been getting a bit out of control. So much so that they are starting to annoy some of the players themselves. For instance, VJ Edgecombe recently shared that while he appreciates being compared to Jimmy Butler, he is starting to get tired of hearing it so often.
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Edgecombe, who has a unique blend of size and speed, has been compared to other players in the past. His physical tools and versatility can apply to several different skill sets we’ve seen before. For example, his college coach at Baylor, Scott Drew, once compared him to Dwayne Wade and Russell Westbrook. Why? Because of his speed and explosiveness.
Edgecombe is seen as someone who can develop into a high-level 3-and-D wing. It’s exactly how Butler started out in his career, except he eventually grew into an elite player. And that didn’t happen overnight. This brings us to the scene of the crime. When Paul George made the same comparison to Butler while speaking to Edgecombe on his podcast, the rookie couldn’t help but react. He tried to hold it in, but the frustration was clear.
“You’ve got a lot of, like, Jimmy Butler to me,” George pointed out on Podcast P. Then, his co-host noticed Edgecombe shaking his head and asked if he didn’t like it. “I’m sure I’m not the first one to say it,” George added.
“Nah, I love the comp,” the No. 3 Draft pick of 2025 said, later clarifying. “I get the, I play like Jimmy, I look like Jimmy. Man, I don’t like it. They just started talking about how I looked like him and all. I was like, come on, bro.”
Edgecombe was appreciative of the comparisons, but he also seemed a bit tired of them. He later revealed that he grew up modeling his game after Victor Oladipo, something George seemed to like.
Oladipo was one of the players Edgecombe was compared to in The Ringer’s pre-draft analysis. He’s also been compared to Kris Dunn, Derrick White, and Eddie Jones. But perhaps the coolest and most accurate label was: “Kentavious Caldwell-Pope bitten by a radioactive spider.”
Edgecombe’s Favorite Player Growing Up
Later in the same podcast, the topic of Damian Lillard came up. He was a hugely influential figure in Edgecombe’s life growing up. One of Edgecombe’s favorite memories was winning an MVP award at Dame’s basketball camp when he was younger.
“Yeah, he was my favorite player at that time. At that time, I just always thought he was the best point guard in the league. But then Curry just kept beating him and beating him, and I’m like, gee, he might be second best right now,” Edgecombe said.
It’s a great favorite player to have when you’re growing up in the Bahamas. Lillard is one of the greatest players in Portland Trail Blazers history, if not the greatest. He hit several iconic game-winning shots, racked up incredible stats, and was a pillar of the community for over a decade.
Now, in the NBA, Edgecombe will get the chance to face off against his childhood idol. He will have to wait a season, as Lillard rehabs a ruptured Achilles. But once Dame is back in Portland, everything will feel right when the 76ers’ rookie finally sees him wearing those threads again.
