Inside 'footsketball', the Sixers’ no-foul summer pickup games

CAMDEN - A collection of reporters frantically thumbed through their phones in a corner of the Sixers' practice facility on Sunday afternoon.

They wanted to inform the public of what they were watching. Something fresh.

No, it wasn't Joel Embiid, who donned practice attire as he talked with teammates on the court despite it being a scheduled day off for the big guy. His troublesome knee was exposed. That's something he's seemingly done more leading up to this new season.

No, it wasn't Paul George, who was visible to the media as he rode a stationary bike on the sideline.

It was rookie VJ Edgecombe.

A handful of personnel were playing a rotating one-on-one game on the far court on the near half of the gym. Score, you stay. Get a stop, you rotate to offense and the next guy steps on to defend. Five seconds on the clock. Nick Nurse says it simulates end-of-game situations.

Edgecombe, Tyrese Maxey, Dominick Barlow, and a staffer. It was competitive.

Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and VJ Edgecombe are all on court after camp today. Paul George is riding a stationary bike on the side. pic.twitter.com/6J6USIaFiO

— Austin Krell (@NBAKrell) September 28, 2025

Embiid and George observed from their respective locations as Edgecombe put on a clinic. Edgecombe laced a couple of contested jumpers off the dribble over Barlow and Maxey. 

VJ Edgecombe 👀 pic.twitter.com/hrugg2EWxS

— Austin Krell (@NBAKrell) September 28, 2025

He met Maxey at the summit on a layup, making his presence felt by pinning his layup off the glass, drawing a goaltending call from the more senior guard.

He picked on the staffer, blocking a pull-up jumper and causing him to bobble the ball on a step-back attempt.

More Edgecombe in 1v1s: pic.twitter.com/KgBIxqv9BH

— Austin Krell (@NBAKrell) September 28, 2025

Edgecombe didn't struggle staying in front of the ball. He welcomed contact and held his ground, 

He wasn't intimidated by the status on the court with him. Edgecombe was competing and talking to his friends, Embiid and Maxey.

He looked every bit a high lottery pick. Every bit prepared for his rookie campaign.

Perhaps that's what happens when you play "footsketball", as Kelly Oubre Jr. calls it, in your pre-camp camp.

Andre Drummond was two days late to the preseason camp. He needed a day to adjust to the physical nature of the game.

"We've been playing pickup with no fouls. I learned the hard way coming back," he said at media day.

It's been mentioned more than once already, which means multiple players see it as a departure from their preparation last year: the intensity and toughness is being built as we speak. It's something they've been building for weeks now.

"I think it's going to surprise a lot of teams, too, just the way that we play now. I'm not going to say anything, obviously it's not something I want to share," Drummond said. 

"But I think our new style of play is going to be very good for our team and I'm really looking forward to playing against somebody else and not beating up my own teammates."

Drummond doesn't know whose brilliant idea it was to play pickup with no fouls. He wishes someone had texted him beforehand so that he'd have come in with a different mindset. 

"I'm thinking we're just going through plays and we're trying to catch a rhythm. I'm getting my ass beat up. I'm like, 'Damn, is anyone calling any fouls?'. There's no whistles, no whistles or nothing. We're just playing," he said Friday.

Drummond loves that lawless style of play. He thinks it's a brand of basketball his teammates needed to experience.

"To see certain guys on our team play that way, I'm like, 'Yeah, this is what we needed right here. We needed this type of game, type of atmosphere because it gets messy. It gets very messy. I mean, obviously seeing Jared go down, that's not the best thing to happen. But it's a part of the game when you play tough."

Who was most aggressive during those sessions?

Jared McCain, Drummond revealed. "He definitely took full advantage of the no-foul game," the veteran big said with a laugh.

Drummond wasn't the only one who enjoyed himself.

"It was carnage, bro. I loved it, straight up. Just like I said, it was like football but basketball. It was real fun because we all got closer in that time," Oubre said on Sunday, the second day of training camp. 

"Now we have actual referees, so a lot of that stuff doesn't fly. So now we have to adjust and stay at pace, stay aggressive, but not foul as much. It was fun, though. I loved it."

There are young players on the team who had no idea what mental toughness and strength were in the NBA game. Oubre thinks it's great that they were challenged without preparation leading up to camp.

"Just to get us used to running, playing physical, show these guys what it's like to just be mentally tough and mentally strong. Still got to go out there and perform. So we're going to play a lot of teams who that's their identity. And although it was a little footsketball-ish, it doesn't matter," the red-haired wing said.

"It's us getting to know each other. It was fun for me because the pace picked up. The intensity was there. Everybody just pushed each other to get better. So I think we got closer in these past couple weeks."

Second-year wing Justin Edwards was adamant that his foul count was low.

"I think I played really good defense, really great defense, actually," Edwards joked on Sunday.

"But, you know, if they weren't calling it, I'll foul here and there. But I wasn't overdoing it."

The games were hack fests. But Edwards felt that the physicality taught toughness, and that was something the Sixers needed.

"We've just been fouling and they haven't been calling it. So, you know, I just feel like we need that, honestly. Playing through fouls, just being tougher, honestly," Edwards said on media day.

The head coach couldn't help but roll his eyes when the slugfest practices were mentioned.

"I might've been reffing some of those, I'm not sure," Nick Nurse said with a laugh. 

"I think the guys were playing really hard. They were playing really physical. But I don't think it was anything where they needed that much discussion."

They say preparation prevents poor performance. The Sixers are, by all accounts, taking a new approach to theirs.