VJ Edgecombe enjoyed every bit of his historic NBA debut. But he hopes it becomes a footnote to a long career.

BOSTON — VJ Edgecombe was unflappable 10 hours before making his NBA debut.

There were no jitters, butterflies or even a restless night before he faced the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night at TD Garden.

“I slept great,” Edgecombe said Wednesday morning. “I ain’t going to lie. Yeah, I got more than eight hours of sleep. I ain’t antsy or nothing. I’m just looking at it as a regular game.

“Obviously, the environment won’t be the same. But it’s still basketball, at the end of the day.”

It turns out that the 76ers rookie’s quiet confidence was warranted.

The 6-foot-4 combo guard poured in 34 points to help lead the Sixers (1-0) to a 117-116 season-opening victory over their archrivals. The performance placed him in the same rarified air as Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain and future Hall of Famer LeBron James.

It was the third-highest scoring debut in NBA history behind Chamberlain’s 43 points on Oct. 24, 1959, and Frank Selvy’s 35 on Nov. 30, 1954. Edgecombe’s 14 first-quarter points set a record for the most in the opening period of an NBA debut, surpassing James’ 12 points on Oct. 29, 2003.

“From a team standpoint, we got the win, which matters the most,” a smiling Edgecombe said of his performance. “Like I said, it’s going to come. It’s basketball at the end of the day, like I’ve been saying. Just trying not to overthink it.

“I’ve been putting in the reps, been putting in the work. My teammates trust me. I trust my teammates. I was blessed to be in this position on this big stage. Blessed to perform.”

Yeah, it’s great to have a high-scoring night that enabled the Sixers to start a season 1-0 for the first time since the 2021-22 campaign. But how does he process being mentioned in the same breath as Chamberlain and James, two of the greatest to play the game?

“It’s amazing,” Edgecombe said, smiling again. “I must say, it’s amazing. But, I mean, hopefully I have a long career ahead of me. That’s what matters most. Longevity. Knowing ’Bron, who’s been here 20-plus years, I’m hoping I can do that one day. But just putting in work … it’s great having my name mentioned with LeBron’s name, but credit to ’Bron and credit to my teammates for passing me the ball.”

The 20-year-old began to put his imprint on the game midway through the first quarter, scoring 10 consecutive points.

His first basket from the floor came on a cutting dunk with 6 minutes, 22 seconds left in the quarter. Then he drained a 25-foot 3-pointer before scoring on a driving layup. He capped the run with another 25-foot 3-pointer to knot the score at 20 with 4:09 remaining in the quarter.

Then, after Jabari Walker’s put-back layup, Edgecombe drained his third 3-pointer to knot the score, 25-25, at the 1:14 mark. He scored 13 of the Sixers’ final 16 points in the opening quarter.

“I was just having fun, to be honest,” Edgecombe said of the first-quarter stretch. “The ball was moving. I was getting good looks, capitalizing on them. That was the main thing, just capitalizing on the looks we had. And I was able to knock down some shots, get to the rim, finish, and my teammates were creating for me.

“That’s why I got those wide-open catch-and-shoot [three-point] shots because my teammates were creating for me.”

After Edgecombe’s stellar debut, several of his teammates recalled their first NBA games.

“My debut, I played 10 minutes,” said Dominick Barlow of his debut, a 119-97 loss by his San Antonio Spurs to the Los Angeles Clippers on Nov. 19, 2022. “I was tired as hell. I was like 1-for-3 [shooting]. I didn’t do nothing. He is just so composed, so calm. You don’t see that. That was special. I’ve been around two No. 1 picks [Victor Wembanyama in 2023 with the Spurs and Zaccharie Risacher in 2024 with the Atlanta Hawks], and to see how he carries himself and how good he was in clutch situations and how aggressive he was with All-Star-level guards playing against him [in Jaylen Brown], it’s special.”

Tyrese Maxey, who scored a game-high 40 points on Wednesday, also rolled down memory lane.

The All-Star in 2023-24 finished with six points in 10:51 off the bench in a 113-107 win over the Washington Wizards on Dec. 23, 2020.

“I remember from my debut. I was confident,” Maxey said. “I remember the first thing I did was step out of bounds, and [coach] Doc [Rivers] said, ‘If you do that again, you are coming out.’

“But this guy, I’m proud of him. He played well.”

Maxey raved about Edgecombe’s composure and the shots he took without batting an eye. Not known as a 3-point shooter, Edgecombe was left open on catch-and-shoot attempts by the Celtics (0-1). He responded by burying 5 of 13 3-pointers.

“Seventy-seven definitely got scared at the free-throw line, though,” Maxey said jokingly of Edgecombe missing a pair of foul shots with 8.5 seconds remaining.

But Maxey’s good-natured ribbing ended there, as he switched back to explaining how proud he was of his backcourt mate.

“He was comfortable,” Maxey said of Edgecombe hoisting up the double-digit 3-point attempts. “… They tried to close out to him a couple of times, and he shot it. We know what he does when he gets downhill and what he does on defense. But that’s what I was most proud of, man. He shot those threes and shot them with confidence and made them, too.”

Kelly Oubre Jr. wasn’t shocked by Edgecombe’s historic night. When he asked the rookie how he felt before the game, “He was like, ‘Chillin’ bro,’ ” Oubre said.

“Right then, I’m like, ‘All right, you’re not nervous,’ ” Oubre said. “No jitters for a very even-keeled individual. And he puts the work in. So that was just a testament to the work he puts in.”