Philadelphia 76ers star Tyrese Maxey is one of the top players in the league as he is on his way to becoming a multi-time All-Star due to his maniacal work ethic and his immense talent. He averaged 25.9 points and 6.2 assists in the 2023-24 season.
However, while he has proven himself at this stage of his career, it isn’t like he was a sure thing. He was the No. 21 pick in the 2020 NBA draft and was in a reserve role in his rookie season playing behind Ben Simmons. He received an opportunity in his second season thanks to the Simmons saga, but even in his third season, Maxey came off the bench for 19 of the 60 games he played.
Now, he is a max player and is among the top guards in the league. Maxey is one of the leaders for this Sixers team and will look to take another step forward in the 2024-25 season.
Agent Rich Paul hopped on “The Pat McAfee Show” and praised Maxey for what he has been able to achieve and shed some light on his rookie season:
They wanted to send him down to the G League. They wasn’t even going to draft hm, first of all, then they were gonna send him down to the G League. Then they decided to play him a little bit. It was COVID. It was a game that guys sat out. He scored 40 points against Denver, I think. We talked after that game. I said ‘Tyrese, great game, but you won’t play the next 10 games’. He was so confused. I was like ‘Yeah. Those 40 points mean nothing in terms of where you’re at in the pecking order’. Now today, he’s a max player, but he’s never allowed himself to make it about him.
https://twitter.com/PatMcAfeeShow/status/1813253982271512807
To correct Paul, it was actually 39 points Maxey scored against the Nuggets in the 2020-21 season. He continued to play even when the Sixers did get healthy again, but his minutes understandably went down due to the fact that Simmons and Seth Curry were able to return from the health & safety protocols.
Either way, Maxey does deserve a ton of credit. While the Sixers were hopeful that he would be able to make that next step into stardom, it wasn’t a sure thing that he would. He has proven himself at a high level and Philadelphia will be looking to him to lead the way on its continued path for a title.
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