CAMDEN, N.J. — The Philadelphia 76ers are dealing with a spate of injuries: James Harden, Tyrese Maxey and, now, Joel Embiid. This is a tough time for Philadelphia at the moment and it has to battle through.
Maxey, who played in 61 games as a rookie in the 72-game season and 75 games in the 2021-22 season, is normally always available and wants to be. Being forced to the sideline by an injury is something new for him to deal with during his three- to four-week recovery timeline.
He suffered the injury in Friday’s win over the Milwaukee Bucks. He had a terrific first half, scoring 24 points on 9-for-12 shooting before leaving at halftime. He knew something was off.
“I think I knew as soon as I did it,” Maxey said on Monday. “Sometimes, you tweak your ankle a lot just playing basketball, and you notice you tweaked your ankle. When I did it, I kind of heard the pop, and I was telling somebody, I think it may have been (Danuel) House. He was like ‘Reese, tie your shoe!’ I was like, ‘Nah, it’s not my ankle, it’s my foot’ and it’s life. I’ll be OK. It’s not the end of the world. I’ll be alright.”
Maxey has to stay upbeat to help the team. So, despite his injury and the possibility of it affecting him mentally, the young star is focused on being happy.
“I feel good,” he smiled as he sat in a boot. “I’m happy. That’s life. I’m glad I get to be here and still support my teammates and I can walk and smile and my family’s in town. So it’s great.”
Tyrese Maxey: “I feel good.”
He’s still absolutely himself. Said he’s grateful to be alive and that his family is in town for Thanksgiving. pic.twitter.com/Q4nevCVsHJ— Paul Hudrick (@PaulHudrick) November 21, 2022
Having his family with him to celebrate the holidays is helping Maxey deal with the negative situation he finds himself in.
“That and then just being alive,” Maxey added. “I mean, I’m grateful to be alive every single day. Every time I get to wake up and I can breathe and I can walk around and move around and I have all my limbs and stuff. I still thank God every day so I’m happy.”
In the meantime, Maxey is finding new ways to pass the time until he can get back in the gym.
“The last couple days, I’ve been in the house,” he said. “I’ve been playing Call of Duty. I got actually pretty good at it. I got good at that. My dog, he doesn’t understand the whole boot situation. He doesn’t understand like, ‘You can’t jump on me right now.’ He doesn’t understand that.”
The Sixers look to get back in the win column on Tuesday when they play host to old friend Ben Simmons and the Brooklyn Nets.
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