Joel Embiid, Sixers praise Tyrese Maxey for his impressive offensive play
CAMDEN, N.J.–The Philadelphia 76ers will go as far as Joel Embiid and James Harden take them in this 2022 postseason run, but one cannot forget the play of Tyrese Maxey as he continues to learn and grow as a player.
Maxey has quickly become one of Philadelphia’s most important players. He is probably their third-best player heading into this postseason after averaging 17.5 points and shooting 42.7% from deep as a 21-year-old who has had to handle a lot.
At the beginning of the season, Maxey took over as the starting point guard amid the Ben Simmons saga and he had to become a point guard and then when the team got Harden, the young man had to adjust again and be a shooting guard.
“If it was up to me, he probably would be the Most Improved Player in the league,” said Embiid. “What he’s accomplished and the situation that we were in all year, but I always believed in him because he has such a high work ethic. He works hard. He’s just always in the gym so I’ve always believed.”
Before the All-Star break, Maxey averaged 16.9 points and shot 46.9% from the floor and 39% from deep. After the break, with Harden, Maxey averaged 18.7 points and shot 52.3% from the floor and 48% from deep.
“I told our staff during the middle of the summer that Tyrese was starting no matter what, whatever happened,” said coach Doc Rivers. “That was the little like ‘How are you gonna start him with Ben?’ I don’t know, but he’s starting and I said that early on. So I think that helped him because I told him that I couldn’t go back on that. It was the middle of the summer.”
Being a starting point guard on this Sixers team is tough. Playing on a team with high expectations with Embiid in his prime and playing at a high level, Maxey had to grow up quickly. Then, switch everything up when Harden came aboard.
Despite being so young, Rivers had a lot of faith in his young guard.
“I just thought he plays with little anxiety,” Rivers explained. “He has a gear that 20 people in the league have and he’s probably not 20 and his shot I just believe that where I thought he would need help and probably does is being a point guard. I never thought he was a point guard. That’s why I thought him with Ben would be great because he wouldn’t have to and that’s really what James has done in a lot of ways. He’s turning back into what he should be and that’s a scoring guard.”
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