Tyrese Maxey’s shooting was questioned entering the NBA draft. Now, he holds the Sixers’ three-point record.

Trendon Watford inadvertently messed with Tyrese Maxey’s psyche during Tuesday’s win at the Indiana Pacers. After the All-Star guard sank his first two three-point attempts, Watford informed Maxey that he only needed four more to break the 76ers’ franchise record for career makes.

“I had no idea I was that close,” Maxey said. “ … I missed every three after that [in that game].”

Maxey wasted little time achieving the milestone during Thursday’s 124-117 victory over the Miami Heat. He ripped off two in 12 seconds, thanks to a leaping interception between shots. He pulled up again in transition from the left wing at the 4:29 mark, tying the record. Then, poetically, Watford pump-faked, drove, and dished to an open Maxey for the record-breaking splash that the longtime close friends will remember “forever,” Maxey said. He hit one more — on one of his quintessential step-backs — before the first-quarter buzzer for good measure.

» READ MORE: Tyrese Maxey sets Sixers record for three-pointers

That first-quarter flurry pushed Maxey past Allen Iverson’s 885 career three-pointers, ending the night with 887 after going 5-of-12 from beyond the arc. During his five-plus NBA seasons, Maxey entered Thursday connecting on 38% of those long-range attempts. That it took Maxey only 375 games to amass that many makes — Iverson’s total occurred in 722 — is partially a product of the modern NBA, which thrives on creating and making three-pointers.

It also is a testament to Maxey turning a perceived weakness into a massive weapon in his arsenal as one of the NBA’s most dangerous scorers, exiting Thursday ranked fourth in the NBA at 29.1 points per game.

“That’s a blessing, honestly,” Maxey said of the record after the game. “I’m just happy, man. … Thank God for the opportunity. I thank God for the Sixers organization for drafting me, trusting me, believing in me.”

Today, it seems outrageous that three-point shooting was the biggest critique of Maxey’s game entering the 2020 draft, after he made only 29.2% of his attempts during his one college season at Kentucky. He remembers being constantly questioned about it during interviews with NBA decision-makers. Maxey’s father, Tyrone, recently recalled to The Inquirer a pre-draft workout when Tyrese made 33 three-pointers in a row, and that team “still passed on him.”

The Sixers front office, however, believed in Maxey’s perimeter shooting mechanics and “secondary indicators” of NBA potential, president of basketball operations Daryl Morey told The Inquirer in 2021.

Once the Sixers drafted Maxey 21st overall, former coach Doc Rivers was flabbergasted that Maxey consistently made threes inside the practice facility but only 30.1% of his in-game attempts as a rookie. Former teammate Tobias Harris encouraged Maxey to keep shooting. So did superstar Joel Embiid, eventually declaring that Maxey should attempt 10 per game.

“I knew I could shoot the ball well,” Maxey recalled earlier this month.

His efficiency sharply rose above 40% for two consecutive seasons, from 2021-23, even as that volume increased. That percentage temporarily dipped to 33.7% during the Sixers’ disastrous 2024-25 season, when Maxey often struggled as the top offensive option for an injury-plagued team, and then suffered a finger sprain that severely hampered his shooting.

This season, Maxey was back to making 37.5% of his 8.9 attempts per game entering Thursday, and was selected to participate in the three-point contest at All-Star Saturday before starting Sunday’s main event.

And coach Nick Nurse continues to push Maxey to fire even more three-pointers, and from further away from the basket. The immediate next layer to Maxey’s three-point assortment, Nurse said, is when he slams on the brakes in transition and launches off the dribble. Those types of attempts, Nurse said, are both “so difficult to guard” and “[require] maybe the least amount of effort.”

“If you can get teams to have to pick you up that high,” Nurse said, “that’s just immediately going to help your offense and create space for everybody.”

» READ MORE: Inside Sixers: Tyrese Maxey’s history with Anthony Edwards, VJ Edgecombe’s three-point routine, and more

Maxey said he “definitely” agrees with Nurse’s assessment, and coyly added there are “a lot of things I want to try to work on” regarding his three-point shooting.

Yet to already pass the franchise legend Iverson “in anything” is an honor, Maxey said. He waved to the crowd when a video tribute between the first and second quarters formally connected the Hall of Famer to the franchise’s current star. And it was fitting that Maxey had the game-clinching assist on an Embiid three-pointer with 29.2 seconds remaining.

Then Maxey brought the game ball to his postgame news conference. His mother, Denyse, keeps most of the memorabilia commemorating such accomplishments at their family home near Dallas.

Maxey hopes Mom will let him hang onto this memento, which signifies how he turned a perceived weakness into a record-breaking offensive weapon.

“He’s going to have some time to increase it,” Nurse said of the milestone. “Will be a tough one to beat by the time he’s done.”