Tyrese Maxey’s injury scare reinforces his importance to Sixers: ‘He’s the heart and soul of the team’

ATLANTA — Tyrese Maxey sat at his locker following the 76ers’ loss at the Hawks, smiling and chatting with teammates and close friends Joel Embiid and Trendon Watford. The All-Star point guard ate a Chick-fil-A sandwich and typed on his cellphone — with both hands.

This scene would be far from newsworthy under the vast majority of circumstances. But it occurred when, less than 30 minutes prior, Maxey walked off the State Farm Arena court with his right hand tucked in his jersey and in obvious pain.

The extent of Maxey’s injury, which we’ve learned involved a finger — and happened in the final seconds of the 125-116 defeat — was still unclear as of late Saturday. He was set to undergo an X-ray following the game, coach Nick Nurse said, and further testing Sunday, The Inquirer later learned.

But whether this results in a brief injury scare or a lengthy absence, it all reinforced how vital Maxey is to a 34-29 Sixers team gripping onto postseason aspirations with 19 games remaining.

“It’s Tyrese we’re talking about,” said Watford, who has been friends with Maxey since high school. “He means everything to us. He’s the heart and soul of the team. Any time a guy goes down like that, it’s scary.

“But y’all [the media] hear him over there [in the locker room]. He’s smiling. He’ll be all right.”

Maxey, who chose not to speak to the media following Saturday’s game, has morphed into one of the NBA’s premier offensive engines and reliable workhorses.

He exited Saturday ranked fourth in the league in scoring (29 points per game) — including 31 points on 12-of-22 shooting against the Hawks — and averaged 6.7 assists, 4.1 rebounds, and 2.0 steals. He also leads the NBA in minutes per game at 38.3. Exiting Saturday, has played in 61 of the Sixers’ 63 games and has not missed a game since Dec. 14.

That elite combination of production and availability has been crucial for a Sixers team already playing without Embiid, the former MVP who will miss at least three more games with an oblique injury suffered last week, and Paul George, the former perennial All-Star who is serving a league suspension for violating its drug policy. Standout rookie VJ Edgecombe also missed his second consecutive game Saturday with a back bruise.

“He’s a constant for us,” starting wing Kelly Oubre Jr. said of Maxey. “He battles every night. Comes in, does his work, leads by example. He’s definitely a catalyst to our success. I think the world of him. I think we do, too, as a team.”

So of course Maxey was on the floor in the final minute of Saturday’s game, trying to stage a miraculous comeback in a loss that dropped the Sixers from sixth to eighth place in the tightly packed segment of the Eastern Conference standings. Maxey inadvertently collided with teammate Adem Bona while both vied for a loose ball, also resulting in Bona hurting his knee.

Oubre said watching that unfold felt like “a car crash right in front of you.” He closed his eyes, said a prayer, and walked toward Maxey, who was still on the ground after rolling his body away from the play and toward the sideline.

“My heart dropped a little bit,” Oubre said. “But at the end of the day, it’s already written. … I know he’s a resilient individual.”

Sixers general manager Elton Brand and Maxey’s parents, Denyse and Tyrone, were among those waiting in the hallway outside the Sixers’ locker room following the game. A grinning Maxey eventually emerged with no wrap or protection on any parts of his hand, before joining teammates and staff behind the door. He lingered in the locker room as several others left for the team buses back to the hotel, before the Sixers travel to Cleveland for a game against the Cavaliers on Monday (7 p.m., NBCSP).

Maxey has become familiar with finger injuries. As a high-schooler, he played through a broken pinkie. He also sprained his right pinkie last season, which clearly affected his shooting. The Sixers eventually shut Maxey down for the end of his team’s dreadful 2024-25 season, and the injury required him to take the early portion of the offseason to fully recover.

How Saturday’s scare will affect Maxey and his team remains uncertain. Significant time away — especially while Embiid and/or George are still sidelined — could cause the Sixers to tumble further down the play-in pecking order.

Nurse pumped the brakes during his postgame news conference, noting “guys do get hit on the hands quite a bit and jam fingers and all kinds of stuff, so let’s hope that’s what it is.” And during Watford’s postgame interview, he confirmed Maxey’s demeanor by hollering at his teammate to ask, “You in good spirits?!” and Maxey responded with a matter-of-fact “Yeah!”

But if the Sixers are forced to play in the short- or long-term without Maxey, Oubre said these three qualities will be required to forge ahead.

“Togetherness, mental toughness, and God,” he said.