PHILADELPHIA–Rising Philadelphia 76ers star Tyrese Maxey has taken a big leap forward in the 2023-24 season. Taking over the starting point guard job after the James Harden saga, Maxey is averaging 27.1 points, 6.7 assists, and 4.3 rebounds on the season.
Maxey has scored 30-plus points in a game seven times thus far and he also has a 50-point game under his belt. The young star out of Kentucky can score at so many different levels and he’s been terrific at distributing the ball as well.
However, if you ask Maxey what he takes pride in the most, it’s the fact that he’s taking care of the ball. He is averaging only 1.4 turnovers per game and he can thank his dad for the focus on taking care of the ball.
“My dad was a coach and he was a coach that didn’t like turnovers,” Maxey said after a win over the Atlanta Hawks. “He always told me a story. They won state. I did not win. I was not able to win state, but when he won state in the state championship run in Texas—now you have to win seven games, but then you have to win like five games and throughout his five games, he had one turnover.”
Maxey’s father made sure he understood that keeping possession of the ball was the most important thing. A team can’t score if they’re giving the ball away to the other team.
“So he’s always bringing that up to me like ‘Man, when we won the championship, I was the lead guard and I didn’t turn the ball over. I had these many assists’ blah, blah, blah,” Maxey joked. “He brags about it all time, but it’s very important though now that I really think about it.”
Valuing possessions is so important in the NBA. Especially, in the playoffs. A game can come down to one or two plays here and there and if Maxey and the Sixers aren’t taking care of the ball, it can cost them in the postseason.
“I’ve played in I think three playoffs,” Maxey added. “Six playoff series. I know that sometimes the game comes down to that. One turnover. Two turnovers. That can be like those little breakout layups, they can really come back and haunt you. So taking care of the ball is gonna be extremely important for us down the stretch.”
Maxey and the Sixers will continue their growth on Monday when they play host to the Washington Wizards.
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