Jazz Chisholm Jr., VJ Edgecombe and the Bahamas connection
Yankees outfielder Jazz Chisholm Jr, left, and new 76er and LuHi alum VJ Edgecombe.
The community of professional athletes in American sports from the Bahamas is pretty small. But it has grown by one.
VJ Edgecombe, the two-time Newsday Long Island Player of the Year out of Long Island Lutheran High School, was picked No. 3 overall by the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA Draft on Wednesday night.
Edgecombe is originally from the Bahamas, as is Yankees third baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr., who told Newsday late Wednesday night: "Congrats to my boy!"
Chisholm said he doesn't know Edgecombe but added, "I've heard of him a lot. I know he's way younger than me."
Chisholm is 27. Edgecombe is 19.
Chisholm is friends with Golden State Warriors guard Buddy Hield and Deandre Ayton Sr. of the Portland Trail Blazers, both of whom are Bahamians.
"Me and Buddy and Deandre, we're all cool," Chisholm said. "I've never really met VJ. I have a lot of friends who know him. I know Buddy knows VJ. It's really cool for him to get drafted."
Hield watched Edgecombe get drafted in person at Brooklyn's Barclays Center. Before the event, he told the Bahamian newspaper The Tribune: "He’s come a long way, but I think he’s the best prospect that the Bahamas has had since Deandre Ayton. He’s a wonderful talent, but he’s also a great kid. I’m just happy for him, I’m just happy for his family, happy for the Bahamas."
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
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