‘A lot of memories’ flood back for Sixers’ Justin Edwards as Smedley Elementary honors him
The Philadelphia native’s former school names its gym after Edwards.
Not too long ago, 76ers forward Justin Edwards said he was driving past his former school, Smedley Elementary in Northeast Philadelphia, and some thoughts entered his mind.
He wondered if he had left a legacy at the school and if he was still remembered there.
“It was just random,” Edwards said. “I was like, ’I wonder if they still talk about me or know who I am and where I’m at.”
The school certainly remembered. A few days after Edwards had that thought, he got a message saying the school wanted to name its gym after him. So on Wednesday, dozens of excited children — and Sixers teammates VJ Edgecombe, Tyrese Maxey, and Adem Bona — gathered in that gym for the official unveiling of the Justin Edwards Gym.
“This school has a lot of memories,” Edwards said.
There was a mixture of disbelief and appreciation on Edwards’ smiling face as he said a number of his former teachers were still at the school. That gym, along with the parks in his neighborhood, was one of the places where he discovered his love of basketball and an admiration for Kevin Durant, his favorite player as a kid. During Edwards’ rookie year of 2024-25, he was able to tell that to Durant when they had a conversation after one of their games that season.
“I used to be a bad kid, so my mom used to use basketball as, like, an outlet,” Edwards said. “So whenever I got in trouble, she’d take basketball away from me and I’d stop getting in trouble. So it all started here.”
The school was where he discovered a passion he has for writing. As part of the ceremony, assistant principal Isaac Hebron showed some photos of a young Edwards and read from an essay he wrote while at the school. In it, Edwards said he wanted to grow up to play in the NBA and help those less fortunate than he was. He joked that his vocabulary back then was “terrible.”
“That was from me when I was in second grade,” Edwards said. “The fact they still have all this stuff is just crazy.”
He added: “It’s crazy that everything I manifested in that letter came to life.”
Edwards’ path wasn’t always so clear. He attended Imhotep Charter and became the No. 2 player in the class of 2023, before struggling in one season at Kentucky and going unselected in the 2024 NBA draft. Edwards latched on with the Sixers as a two-way player and earned a standard deal with $7 million over three years.
Also at the event, Maxey, Bona, and Edgecombe joined Edwards on stage for photos under the banner, and Edwards stopped to take a lot of pictures with students, and with staff members who remembered him at a shorter height. So did his teammates, who were smiling and laughing at the photos of a younger Edwards during the ceremony.
“Especially with what our goals are this season, where we preach on being together, doing more stuff together, so the fact that they came out … just showing that we’re all in it together,” Edwards said.
Edwards is entering his third season with his hometown team after playing in 108 games and averaging 7.7 points. Among the highlights Hebron showed during the presentation were clips from Edwards’ 32-point night against the Kings in March. There was also a montage of Edwards burying threes, with the kids clapping after each one.
“I always catch myself and think, ’I made it to the NBA,’” Edwards said. “It’s a low percent that gets to live out their dream, and happy to be a part of it.”
