Sixers’ Tyrese Maxey among leaders in All-Star fan voting; two key players participate in practice
Maxey was second in the Eastern Conference and fourth overall in the initial fan voting for the All-Star Game. Kelly Oubre and Trendon Watford were back at practice but will miss Tuesday's game.
MEMPHIS — For the 76ers, Monday was a day of receiving great news.
Kelly Oubre Jr. and Trendon Watford participated in practice at FedEx Forum as part of their reintegration into team activities. While the Sixers were on the court, the league announced that Tyrese Maxey was second in the Eastern Conference and fourth overall in the initial fan voting returns for the NBA All-Star Game.
“I appreciate it,” Maxey said of the fans’ recognition. “Hopefully, it kind of shows us how we started out the season, winning some games. I don’t know what seed we are at right now, but trending in the right direction. We are in a little skid now. But at the beginning of the season, we did a good job of winning games. I think that’s a testimony to that.”
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The East’s sixth-place Sixers (16-14) head into Tuesday’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies with a season-high three-game losing streak. After starting the season 4-0, they have gone 12-14. But the one constant has been Maxey, the league’s third-leading scorer at 30.7 points per game.
“For me personally, I think my talent level has been shown in the NBA,” he said. “I think it’s growing. But for me, it’s winning games. That’s what shows like a big gap, a big difference, and a big talent level: impact on your team. When you have that type of impact, when you can help your team win games, that’s what I want to be known for.”
Los Angeles Lakers point guard Luka Dončić is the league’s top vote-getter with 1,249,518 votes, while Milwaukee Bucks forward and two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo leads the East at 1,192,296. Maxey has 1,072,449 votes.
Fans account for 50% of the vote to determine the 10 starters for the All-Star Game, which will be played on Feb. 15 at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif. A media panel and NBA players will each account for 25% of the vote. This season, All-Stars are being selected regardless of position.
Under a new format, two teams of U.S. players and one team of international players (the World team) will compete in a round-robin tournament featuring four 12-minute games.
“It would be cool,” Maxey said of being voted an All-Star starter. “I watched Joel [Embiid] start in an All-Star Game before. It was actually really cool to be out there and watch him. So if I’m blessed with the opportunity, I definitely won’t take it for granted.
“You never know how many opportunities you get like that. Hopefully, I get to watch VJ [Edgecombe] and probably Jared [McCain] on Friday [Feb. 13 in the Rising Stars competition]. So we’ll see.”
Embiid, who’s 17th in the voting (102,017), is the only other Sixer among the top 20 vote-getters in the East.
The second voting update will be on Jan. 6. Fan voting concludes at 11:59 p.m. on Jan. 14.
Oubre (sprained left knee ligament) and Watford (strained left thigh muscle) will remain sidelined when the Sixers face the Grizzlies, while Embiid (sprained right ankle) is listed as questionable. But Oubre and Watford made their most significant strides in their return-to-play program on Monday.
After practice, both players stayed to participate in individual workouts. Oubre even did wind sprints on the court.
The 6-foot-7 swingman has been sidelined since suffering his knee sprain against the Detroit Pistons on Nov. 14. Watford, a 6-9 point forward, has been out since suffering his injury against the Orlando Magic on Nov. 25.
“Right now, I consider myself day to day,” Watford said when asked if he expects to return at some point during the final three games of the Sixers’ five-game road trip.
» READ MORE: Why are the Sixers winless with their Big Three? A lack of rhythm.
After facing the Grizzlies (15-17), the Sixers will play the Dallas Mavericks on New Year’s Day at American Airlines Center before concluding the trip on Saturday against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
“I was able to get some halfcourt in,” Watford said Monday. “The next step is getting some full-court in and seeing how I respond from there. But I feel good, but now, it’s on the team to clear these last two checkpoints.”
If he does some full-court workouts on Tuesday and/or Wednesday, there’s a chance Watford could return as early as Thursday against the Mavs.
Watford was one of the team’s top free-agent additions this summer. He provides frontcourt depth, and the Sixers also signed him to take over some of the ballhandling duties. The Alabama native, who is in his fifth season in the NBA, showed he’s more than capable while collecting 20 points, 17 rebounds, and 10 assists for his first career triple-double against the Toronto Raptors on Nov. 8. He averaged 8.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 3.6 assists in 14 games with four starts.
“Luckily, I was able to play a good amount … before I did get hurt,” he said. “I was able to get a good rhythm with the team and play with the guys. But it’s unfortunate. But it could always be worse, and I could be sitting up there for the rest of the season.
“So thank God I’m not, and I get to get back out there with the guys and get back to helping the team.”