Sixers impressed by Tyrese Maxey’s resilience through personal adversity
Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey has been through a lot during his second season in the league. The 21-year old point guard is taking over the starting point guard duties from Ben Simmons, that in itself is a huge challenge enough, but there has also been off-the-court adversity as well.
Maxey has had to learn how to play point guard for a team that has title aspirations as a 21-year old point guard while dealing with COVID-19 issues with himself as well as his family. Throw in the fact that his house caught on fire back on Christmas Eve and it is impressive that he has been able to fight through all of that and be a productive player.
“He’s just a very positive person,” said coach Doc Rivers. “It’s hard, he covers it up really well. He’s never that down. He has a very positive outlook on life. He’s had a lot of stuff from COVID to the fire to other COVID in his family, yet he just keeps playing and it’s really cool.”
The impressive thing about Maxey is that he is always smiling and he is bouncy and happy despite some events happening to him that would, understandably, make a lot of people be sad and upset with what is going on. The second-year guard out of Kentucky has been able to stay positive as he understands how blessed he is to be in the NBA.
“He loves the game,” Rivers added. “I swear, I think that’s what gets him through it. He’s doing something he loves and he actually knows that. I think a lot of times, coaches and players, we forget that sometimes, but we’re doing something we absolutely love doing and he is probably the poster child of that. Like, he loves basketball.”
Maxey is one of those guys who exudes positivity and happiness in any situation. This has been something that has impressed Rivers as his young guard just loves playing basketball and being in the gym working on his craft.
“There’s coaches that sleep in and never leave the gym and he’s a player like that,” said Rivers. “If you took basketball away from him, I don’t know what he would do. I think that’s what’s going to make him a special player.”
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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