Sixers’ Tyrese Maxey earns his first career All-NBA selection, on third team
It is another significant step for Maxey, the 25-year-old guard who ranked fifth in the NBA in scoring this season, and is viewed as the Sixers’ centerpiece for the present and future.
On the lock screen of Tyrese Maxey’s cell phone during the second half of the 76ers’ season, the words “All-Star” had been replaced with “All-NBA.”
The 25-year-old point guard has officially accomplished both of those goals in his sixth NBA season, as Maxey on Sunday night was named to the All-NBA third team.
“He’s going to be a superstar for years to come,” teammate VJ Edgecombe said of Maxey after the Sixers’ season-ending second-round playoff loss to the New York Knicks earlier this month. “I’m really proud to just be part of the journey. It’s just been so great for me, for this team. We ain’t going anywhere without him.”
This season, Maxey ranked fifth in the NBA in scoring (28.3 points per game), as a versatile weapon who can explode to the basket and launch from deep three-point range. He also averaged 6.6 assists and 4.1 rebounds, and became a legitimate defensive playmaker (1.9 steals per game).
It is another significant step for Maxey, who earlier this season also earned his second All-Star nod and became the franchise’s all-time leader in made three-pointers. He is viewed as the Sixers’ centerpiece for the present and future.
Maxey again fueled the Sixers’ 45-37 season while fellow max-contract teammates Joel Embiid and Paul George were limited because of injuries and, in George’s case, an NBA suspension for violating the league’s drug policy. Maxey led the NBA in minutes played per game (38), and reached the 65-game requirement for postseason awards despite missing three weeks in March with a pinkie injury that he periodically aggravated (and required a splint) during regular season’s stretch run and playoffs.
The postseason, however, illustrated that Maxey still has room to grow. He helped close out Game 7 of the Sixers’ rally from down three games to one in their first-round upset of the Boston Celtics. But he struggled with the Knicks’ aggressive trap defenses while the Sixers were swept in the conference semifinals. Maxey called it “definitely one of the hardest series I’ve played in” after averaging 18.3 points, shooting 3-for-19 from beyond the arc, and committing 14 turnovers in those four games.
Once his finger heals, Maxey said he hopes he can spend this offseason continuing to weaponize his off-ball game to create a dynamic backcourt tandem with Edgecombe, who finished third in Rookie of the Year voting and has demonstrated lead ballhandling capabilities.
“I feel like that’s one thing that really good players and great players can do,” Maxey said. “They can be on the ball [and] make plays on the ball, but they can also play off the ball and contribute that way, use their gravity that way.”
