Excitement was in the air on Wednesday night inside the local bar Garage located in Rittenhouse. Hundreds of fans came out to see the ultimate fate of what the Sixers would do with their third overall pick after weeks of speculation. In a draft where the first two picks were all but decided, the Sixers represented the true start of uncertainty, and that added to the energy already coursing through the building well before the draft even started.
Franklin The Dog came and immediately made his presence felt by sinking a shot on the pool table to get the crowd cheering. Mini basketball was being played in the middle of the floor… only the bucket was actually a Sixers’ employees hat, equipped with a backboard and all. Everyone in attendance got a free snapback hat and the opportunity to take advantage of Michelob Ultras priced at only $3. Not much else you can ask for.
When the players started to be introduced making their way to their assigned seating on the draft floor, the crowd inside Garage started to cheer when they saw Baylor guard, VJ Edgecombe walk out. Everyone knew Edgecombe was one of the likely choices for the Sixers, but with the possibility of trading the rights to the third pick to acquire more assets, or just unexpectedly taking one of the other top prospects, nobody quite knew exactly how the night would pan out.
Once the draft officially began, the mood inside Garage reached another level. Nobody paid any attention to the televisions for the next ten minutes as Cooper Flagg and Dylan Harper were selected with the top two picks. The Sixers Stixers and Squad 76 got the entire building on their feet and jumping up and down with anticipation as the Sixers five minute countdown started to go.
Chants of “We Want VJ” coursed throughout the bar when the Sixers got on the clock. He was the fan favorite, he was the consensus pick amongst them. But the clock kept ticking down, and ticking down, and ticking down. Could this be a much more difficult decision than we all thought? Could the Sixers actually be taking and weighing trade offers up until the very last second?
Maybe we will never know. But with just nine seconds left to make their selection, those magical words appeared on the screen- “The Pick Is In.”
NBA Commissioner, Adam Silver, walked to the podium and confirmed what every single person inside Garage wanted to hear- VJ Edgecombe was being drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers. The bar erupted. Everyone was ecstatic and just as equally relieved.
Out from the back came the next stock of cases of Michelob Ultra. The night at Garage had just begun!
