DETROIT – Some days it’s with boundless energy and a big smile, others it’s criticizing his teammates after a bad loss.
However, on a snowy Saturday morning in Detroit, Tyrese Maxey was belting out old-school Motown tunes to gain energy for the Philadelphia 76ers’ shootaround. The music was blaring and Maxey, who wasn’t born until 2000, some 30 years after Motown’s heyday, was talking as if the hits had been released yesterday.
“My grandmothers, man,” he said.
There’s a maturity to Maxey that belies the energy, accepting responsibility for the 76ers’ plight even though no one in their right mind would dare say he’s not holding up his end of the bargain.
That night, Paul George returned after a three-game absence; His debut in Philadelphia has been plagued by injuries that undermined the excitement with which the franchise began the season. Joel Embiid missed Saturday’s game, like so many others, due to knee ailments that have affected his career and will likely continue to do so as he approaches his 30s.
That leaves Maxey as the only star trying to keep the 76ers afloat, as only the Washington Wizards, New Orleans Pelicans and Utah Jazz have worse records to date.
Maxey was supposed to be part of a very top-heavy, well-built unit, a similar sounding change of direction from the deliberate George and the plodding Embiid. Now, he’s rising to the top of the scouting report every night.
“I wouldn’t say it was going to fall into anything,” Maxey told Yahoo Sports. “I had a special season last year, so I knew after Joel I was on top.” But Maxey acknowledges having to play in different ways when Embiid and George are not in the lineup, as he adjusts to the new guys in the lineup. “So we have to decide how we want to play, who goes well with who. That takes time.”
But it’s getting late and too early for the 76ers. In their next eight games, four will be against power teams: the surprising Orlando Magic (twice), the conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers and the champion Boston Celtics on Christmas Day.
“I mean, we can’t get much lower than we are right now,” Maxey said. “Honestly, the only way we can move forward is up. It will depend on us. I think we’ve gotten better, man. In the last three games we really competed.”
That’s the bar now, just competing, at least until the 76ers figure out how to fix things with the Embiid situation still seemingly in flux. The -7 point differential per night aligns with the 4-14 record, and when frustration reached a tipping point two weeks ago, when the 76ers blew a 19-point lead and lost by 17 to Miami, it was Maxey who spoke at an impromptu team meeting.
According to sources, the 24-year-old guard challenged Embiid to show up on time and take this season as seriously as expectations demand. Maybe it should have been head coach Nick Nurse or team president Daryl Morey, but Maxey felt obligated.
“I feel like the reason when I say things, it travels alone because I work so hard,” Maxey said. “I work really hard, man. Everything I say comes from a good place. All I want to do is win. I don’t care about anything else, honestly. “All the individual accolades, everything else, means nothing to me if we don’t win.”
Maxey was leading the league in minutes per game before injuring his hamstring against the Clippers in Los Angeles on November 6. Naturally, his efficiency took a hit due to the added load, so when he returned, the 76ers put him on a minutes restriction and “That didn’t sit well with me,” Maxey said.
“I’ll play as much as I can,” Maxey said. “I’m trying to do different things, not on game days; I have to scale back a little bit simply because I want to play on the court when it matters. “I will always give 110 percent effort.”
His first game on Nov. 20 was tough, but in the four since then, production hasn’t been an issue. After speaking, he’s been walking (27.5 points on 47-50-92 splits with 6.3 assists and 3.3 steals).
“It’s their team,” 76ers center Andre Drummond told Yahoo Sports before modifying his statement. “His team and Joel’s. They’ve been here the longest and they’ve lifted this team up over the years they’ve been here. It’s good to see our point guard talking. Tyrese is not someone who says a lot, he does it in his work. So it’s cool to hear him say certain things to certain guys and make demands on them. He demands me too. He wants to see the next one be great.”
Even if those demands are made of Embiid, the cornerstone of the franchise. Drummond said Maxey doesn’t hesitate to stop practice and correct his teammates if something isn’t done right.
“The maturity has been enormous. It’s much more vocal. “He says what he thinks,” Drummond said. “It’s been amazing just watching his growth as a leader.”
It’s important to remember that Maxey, who signed his rookie-scale extension this summer, waited an entire year so the 76ers could preserve cap space to sign George away from the Clippers. It would have been his right to secure his own future and not risk injury or anything else in the meantime.
Even if it’s a little embarrassing for a player to make that sacrifice in real time, it certainly gives his words a lot more weight in the locker room. So while making sure to keep everyone else’s spirits up, Maxey also has to keep his cup full.
“Honestly, I’m blessed now. “I’m very happy to play basketball,” Maxey said. “The couple of weeks I couldn’t play, I was depressed. I was upset. Because that hurts, man, you can’t be there with your teammates and try to go out and go to war with them, help them win games.
“So you never hear me complain. Man, I always try to bring positive energy and have fun while doing it.”