Tyrese Maxey eager to ‘try again’ after first All-Star three-point contest
Maxey’s 17 points were not enough to move on to the event final. But competing in the event was gratifying for the Sixers' guard, whose three-point shooting was critiqued coming out of college.
LOS ANGELES — Minutes after he left the Intuit Dome court Saturday afternoon, Tyrese Maxey rattled off everything he would do differently in the All-Star three-point contest.
The 76ers’ guard would start on the opposite corner, so he could take his “money ball” rack balls from his right side. He also would squeeze in at least one practice run, which he could not manage this past week between the Sixers’ return home from a five-game Western Conference road trip and another cross-country flight to Los Angeles.
Maxey’s 17 points were not enough to move on to the final, which the Portland Trail Blazers’ Damian Lillard eventually won with a score of 29.
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He joked that the fact he “didn’t even get 20” points will haunt him for the next year. Still, competing in All-Star Saturday’s showcase event was gratifying for Maxey, who has transformed from a player whose three-point shooting was knocked coming out of college to one of the NBA’s most lethal from beyond the arc.
“I just wanted to see what it was going to be like my first time,” Maxey said. “I’ll definitely come back and try to win it, for sure.”
Maxey entered the All-Star break shooting 37.9% on 8.8 three-point attempts per game, which is tied for seventh in the NBA. He is proud of the variety of ways he now can get to that shot, by creating off the dribble or shaking free to catch and fire.
Yet Maxey was not always this feared from deep range. He shot 29.2% from three during his one season at Kentucky, leading to numerous questions from NBA front offices during the pre-draft process. Maxey’s father, Tyrone, even recently recalled to the Inquirer a workout when Tyrese made 33 consecutive three-pointers and the unnamed NBA team “still passed on him.”
“Most [general managers] were like, ‘Man, you play with the game with a joy, but you can’t shoot,’” Maxey recently recalled to the Inquirer. “I’m like, ‘I can shoot.’”
The Sixers’ front office, meanwhile, believed in Maxey’s form and “secondary indicators” of NBA shooting success, president of basketball operations Daryl Morey told The Inquirer in 2021. Former coach Doc Rivers often shared publicly that he was regularly bamboozled that Maxey was accurate inside the Sixers’ practice facility, but only made 30.1% of his 1.7 attempts as a rookie.
However, confidence instilled by the coaching staff encouraged Maxey to launch more. The next two seasons, his percentages catapulted above 40%, while increasing that volume, as his overall offensive responsibilities blossomed.
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His percentage dipped to 33.7% during the Sixers’ disastrous 2024-25, primarily due to a pinkie injury that prematurely ended his season. His efficiency is back to normal this season, with the freedom from Sixers coach Nick Nurse to take even deeper shots — particularly while in transition.
When asked to partake in the All-Star three-point competition as a first-time All-Star two years ago, Maxey turned it down because he was “nervous” and wanted to soak in the full weekend of festivities. This year, it was a no-brainer.
He said he felt some jitters while introduced at center court, then anxious while waiting for five competitors’ trip around the arc before his.
“I wanted to shoot, man,” Maxey said, before a performance he described as “a little cold.”
Once eliminated, Maxey watched as Lillard and the Phoenix Suns’ Devin Booker put on a show in a scorching 29-27 final. An NBC television camera caught Maxey, hands on his head and mouth agape, as Booker’s potential tying final corner shot bounced off the rim.
Then Maxey praised Lillard, whom he noticed shooting deep three-pointers while recovering from a torn Achilles tendon when the Sixers visited Portland last week.
“That was amazing,” Maxey said. “ … He’s a legend in our league. Still hooping. Still playing the riught way. Love seeing him out there.”
Plenty still awaits this weekend for Maxey, who will start for the U.S. “Stars” team in Sunday’s All-Star game (5 p.m., NBC10, Peacock).
But he is already eager for the 2027 three-point contest.
“That was really fun,” he said. “I can’t wait to try that again.”
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