Tyrese Maxey is having a killer year. Along with Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic, he’s the only guy in the NBA that’s top-10 in points (third with a 30.3 average) and assists (eighth with a 7.1 average). His 76ers have been one of the surprises of the season, as they’re currently hanging tough in the Eastern Conference playoff race at 17-14 thanks to Maxey and rookie VJ Edgecombe forming the most exciting young backcourt in the league.
Only 25 years old, Maxey is in his sixth season, and his game has made a huge leap every single year. He made his first All-Star team and won Most Improved Player two seasons ago, and all he’s done since then is evolve into a true franchise cornerstone. He’s currently the NBA’s leader in minutes played and shot attempts per game, and he’s a lock to make his second All-Star team.
Maxey sat down with Austin Rivers recently, and he talked about some of the players who influenced him growing up.
One was, ironically enough, Maxey’s former teammate in Philly, James Harden. Harden’s step back 3 left a big impression on Maxey and his friends, and they would emulate it whenever they played together. He also credited a true Philly legend for shaping the way he saw the game.
“I think my fearlessness, I watched a lot of AI [Allen Iverson], too,” he said of Sixers great Allen Iverson. “My thing was I loved No. 3. Dwyane Wade, Allen Iverson.”
Maxey wore No. 3 when he played college ball at Kentucky, but obviously he couldn’t do that once the Sixers drafted him because Iverson had his number retired back in 2014.
Instead, Maxey chose No. 0 because it was “the best number available,” and he’s taken it and made it his own. He told Rivers that he made up a quote about it that’s really defined his career: “I got zero excuses not to get better every day.”
One look at his year-to-year improvement shows that he has taken those words to heart.
The Sixers are in an interesting spot, caught between two eras. There’s the old guard of Joel Embiid and Paul George, and then the new generation led by Maxey and Edgecombe. Right now they’re threading the needle and staying competitive, but it won’t be long until the young guys fully take over.
Maxey has played in as many games as Embiid and George combined this year. The team has also been without Kelly Oubre and Trendon Watford for a while, but as of today, they’re still sixth in the East.
Maxey is the biggest reason why, and if his career has shown us anything, it’s that he’s only going to continue getting better. Will he reach the highs of his heroes, Iverson and Wade? It’s probably not a good idea to bet against him.
