CAMDEN, N.J. — The Philadelphia 76ers put the ball in the hands of Tyrese Maxey in the 2023-24 season amid the James Harden saga and the young guard didn’t blink. In his fourth season in the league, he averaged 25.9 points, 6.2 assists, and 3.7 rebounds while shooting 45% from the floor and 37.3% from deep.
He was named an All-Star for the first time in his career and his continued improvement allowed him to be named the Most Improved Player for the 2023-24 season.
For a guy whose motto is “get 1% better every day,” there was no better player to give the award to.
“It means a lot to me just because it’s something that I preach,” he said about winning the award. “Something that I live by and it’s not fake or something I started last year. I’ve been saying that for a very long time. My pop’s been on me about it. He always said proper preparation prevents poor performance so for me, it does really mean a lot.”
The 21st pick of the 2020 NBA draft, Maxey has been an absolute steal for Philadelphia. He has taken leaps and bounds throughout his career, and his rise to stardom in the league has been fascinating and impressive.
“It’s just a testament to the work,” he added. “I appreciate everybody who’s helped me along this way. Trainers, family members, people who actually believed in me, and everybody keeps saying when I got drafted I said I’d work extremely hard and I’ll make sure it’s not a regret. I really meant those things. I wanna keep building and keep getting better every single day.”
It also helps Maxey has had teammates he could learn from: Ben Simmons, James Harden, Kyle Lowry and others have all played a part in his development. Simmons and Harden receive ire from the city of Philadelphia, but both players received credit from Maxey.
“It’s helped a lot,” Maxey said of his teammates. “I’ve learned from a lot of people. Honestly, I go down a list. Ben was here, George Hill was here, guys like Danny Green was involved, but he was a leader. He was here who helped me a lot. I talked about him last night just about recovery and things like that. JH comes in, he helps me big time. Kyle Lowry, Pat Bev, those guys.”
Simmons has given love to Maxey in the past and Harden has as well. Harden, especially, has a special place in Maxey’s development and he made sure to give him another shoutout.
“What they all did here, they never, like, stepped on my toes,” Maxey finished. “They never hated. They always tried to build me up and I just really appreciate them for that. Especially, like, James man. He never wanted to step on my toes. He always wanted me to be aggressive and shoutout to him. I appreciate him.”
Maxey and the Sixers will now look to get on the board in the playoffs when they host the New York Knicks in Game 3 of the first round on Thursday.
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