Tyrese Maxey keeps quiet on three-point contest, but confirms he’s been practicing
While he wouldn't confirm that he will participating in the All-Star Saturday event, maybe did discuss the finer points of the contest and his three-point shooting journey.
Tyrese Maxey would not directly confirm Tuesday that he will compete in the three-point contest at All-Star Weekend.
But the 76ers’ star guard revealed that he had spent time shooting off the rack while at the Sixers’ facility earlier in the day, and that he would happily accept an invitation to any of the Saturday Night events.
”That would be great,” Maxey said from a community event at Snipes in Northeast Philly. “Three-point, skills [competition], all that. Whatever they need me to do, I can do it. …
“We will see. If it happens, it happens. If I’m in it, I’m going to try to win it, for sure.”
Turner Sports’ Chris Haynes reported Monday that Maxey, a first-time All-Star selection this season, was among the players who would partake in the three-point competition. Former Villanova star Jalen Brunson, along with Tyrese Halliburton, Damian Lillard, Lauri Markkanen and Malik Beasley, are other players reported by The Athletic and Stadium’s Shams Charania to compete. Stephen Curry and WNBA star Sabrina Ionescu will also have a beyond-the-arc shootout as part of the event.
Maxey has blossomed into one of the NBA’s dangerous deep threats, entering Wednesday connecting on 38% of his career-high 8.2 attempts per game this season while purposefully extending his range even further. Last season, he ranked fifth in the league in three-point percentage at 43.4% and in 2021-22 hit 42.7% of those shots.
Being selected for the three-point contest is particularly gratifying for Maxey, who believes a reason he slipped to 21st in the 2020 NBA draft “is because people said I couldn’t shoot.” He only made 29.2% of his three-pointers during one college season at Kentucky, but worked on his shot’s arc with renowned personal trainer Chris Johnson during the pre-draft process.
”It’s funny that I get announced for that,” Maxey said. “I think about the past and the reason why I’m here in Philadelphia. … So I’m actually glad that I ended up here.
As for practicing shooting off the rack, an approach much different than shooting in the flow of a game? Maxey acknowledged, “it felt a little funny.”
”I’ve never done that before,” Maxey said. “We’ll see how it goes.