How the Sixers’ Tyrese Maxey has accelerated his ascension to NBA stardom

When Jacque Vaughn studies the 76ers, he is naturally drawn to Tyrese Maxey. Not just as an opposing coach of the Brooklyn Nets. But as a basketball fan.

“He exudes a joy about it that I love watching,” Vaughn said before his team faced Maxey and the Sixers on Nov. 19. “… To see him progress as an athlete. To see him as a one-man fast break, and his team be OK with that. To see him play pick-and-roll, and his team be OK with that.

“To see him take and make big shots, and his team be OK with that … that exudes what kind of person that he is.”

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Vaughn may have felt a bit differently after that Sunday matinee matchup, once Maxey torched the Nets for 25 points — including a 6-of-11 mark from three-point range — and 10 assists against one turnover in a dominant Sixers victory at Barclays Center. But Vaughn’s team was just one hurdle cleared on Maxey’s continued ascent to stardom.

The fourth-year guard entered Wednesday’s game at the Washington Wizards averaging career highs in scoring (27 points per game), assists (6.7), and rebounds (4.6), while shooting 46.4% on 20.2 field-goal attempts per game and 39.6% from beyond the arc. He notched his first 50-point game on Nov. 12 against the Indiana Pacers, by making 20 of his 32 shots.

Those numbers have thrust Maxey into the national spotlight, confirmed his All-Star potential, and made him an early frontrunner for the NBA’s most improved player award. And they have made it easy to forget that James Harden was technically on the Sixers at the start of the season, while giving reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid a dynamic and beloved co-star.

“He’s really, really good,” coach Nick Nurse said of Maxey. “He just is.”

Several elements of Maxey’s game have fueled this rise. Some have always been in his repertoire but are now sharpened and refined. Some have been developed over time. All have been enhanced by work ethic and confidence — and because the ball is now consistently in his hands following Harden’s departure.

Here is the anatomy of Maxey’s ongoing climb:

Maxey’s blazing speed is his signature trait, with Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla recently noting that Maxey can even flip an opponent’s made basket into a Sixers transition opportunity.

“You can’t relax,” Mazzulla said before Maxey totaled 25 points, nine rebounds, and five assists in the Sixers’ 106-103 victory over the Celtics on Nov. 8.

Maxey’s explosiveness to get down the court and all the way to the rim is particularly valuable in Nurse’s high-paced offense, propelling the Sixers to enter Tuesday ranked fifth in the NBA with 19.8 fast break points per game. Maxey has been asked to grab more rebounds — yielding that career mark in that category — in order to immediately push in transition.

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Maxey has infused more change-of-pace into his game this season, helping him shake defenders free and open space to facilitate for teammates. Still, “aggressive” has been constantly uttered by Nurse, Maxey, and teammates while describing his ideal approach. During the preseason, Nurse publicly challenged Maxey to take 20 shots per game. He has hit that mark, almost exactly, entering Wednesday.

“It comes with great responsibility, having that freedom,” Maxey said. “Being able to kind of get up shots when you want to. I still try to get guys open, still try to get guys great shots. … The balance is hard, but it’s part of it.

“I appreciate my teammates and the organization, the coaching staff, for being patient with me. I just go out there and try my best to help us win games.”

Now, Maxey feels more comfortable mixing that in-between shot with his at-the-rim finishes and three-point launches. And he believes using a floater will be a crucial weapon during the playoffs, when defenses key in on those other two elements.

He shot 29.9% from beyond the arc in his one college season at Kentucky, then spent an elongated 2020 pre-draft process working with renowned personal trainer Chris Johnson on putting more arc on his shot by keeping his elbow up. Upon drafting Maxey, the Sixers’ front office believed his mechanics and work ethic would consistently put his three-point percentage in the high 30s. As a rookie, though, Maxey regularly befuddled then-coach Doc Rivers, who called Maxey “automatic” in practice but “didn’t make a damn shot in the game.”

A sharp turning point arrived for Maxey following the 2021 All-Star break, which coincided with Harden’s arrival. Maxey shot 48% on 5.3 attempts per game from beyond the arc in the Sixers’ final 24 regular-season games, including a staggering 8-for-11 mark in a late-season win at the Indiana Pacers. He carried that into last season, when he ranked fifth in the NBA in percentage (43.4) on an even higher volume (6.2 per game).

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“I just needed to see a few go in in the NBA,” Maxey said. “That’s truly what it was. In college, we had a different system. I didn’t really shoot ‘good’ threes, I’m not going to lie. … My rookie year, I only shot one maybe a game. It was a different scenario.

“Once I was able to shoot a little more a game and actually get some rhythm, I knew I would be a pretty good shooter.”

Through 18 games this season, he is making 39.6% of his career-high 8.3 attempts. He is able to create his own shot with a wicked step-back — which catapulted him to his 50th point against the Pacers — and off the catch, which was advantageous while playing alongside Harden and now in the two-man game with Embiid. In a recent video breakdown with the Sixers’ in-house media team, Maxey shared that assistant coach Rico Hines has been encouraging him to take even deeper shots – because he is capable.

When Embiid proclaimed about two years ago that he wanted Maxey to shoot 10 three-pointers per game, it seemed a bit preposterous. Yet he has already hit or exceeded that mark six times this season.

“Sometimes it’s still unreal to me — I’m not going to lie,” Maxey said after launching 12 in last week’s win over the Los Angeles Lakers. “But I just take them when I’m open and when I feel like it’s a good look. … Coach Nurse keeps telling me that’s a high-percentage shot for us.

“I’m going to take them, so I don’t get yelled at by Joel or Coach Nurse.”

While describing Maxey’s game as a youngster, childhood friend Chris Harris recently said that, “his floater was there, but his floater now is insane.”

Yet when Maxey got to the NBA, Rivers believed he was too reliant on that shot in the lane and instead wanted him to burst past defenders and “get his fingernails on the backboard.”

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Now, Maxey feels more comfortable mixing that in-between shot with his at-the-rim finishes and three-point launches. And he believes using the floater will be a crucial weapon during the playoffs, when defenses key on those other two elements.

“That comes with maturity,” Maxey said. " … I’ve got to show the floater, show the midrange, make some of those, just so now I can get off easier threes. Now, I can get to the basket. It goes hand-in-hand.”

The biggest outside question about Maxey entering the 2023-24 season was how successful he could be playmaking for others, especially while replacing Harden, who last season led the NBA in assists at 10.7 per game.

Maxey has already hit his career-high in assists, totaling 11 twice in one November week against the Wizards and Detroit Pistons. On his 23rd birthday a few days earlier, he recorded his first 20-point/10-assist performance in a victory over the Phoenix Suns. He’s averaging over three assists more than last season.

Maxey views that facilitating as a way to get teammates such as Tobias Harris in rhythm, or to reward those who do the “dirty work,” such as De’Anthony Melton, Nicolas Batum, or Paul Reed.

“I always tell P. Reed,” Maxey said, “he runs up there and sets screens, does all these different things. I tell him I’ll make sure I get him at least two or three shots per game, for sure, when I’m out there with him.”

But perhaps more impressive is his low turnover average, at 1.6. He had just 10 total through the Sixers’ first 10 games. He had one or fewer in 10 of his 18 games.

That is an area Maxey’s father, Tyrone, who played point guard at Washington State and then became a longtime coach, has stressed since Tyrese was a kid. Yet Nurse expected some more turnovers essentially by default, just from Maxey’s having the ball in his hands. Following an opener at the Milwaukee Bucks that Nurse described as too disorganized offensively, the coach has been pleased with how Maxey has executed and used his voice to direct his teammates.

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“He’s just made the easy plays,” Nurse said. “He’s not trying to thread the needle. He’s not trying to razzle-dazzle with his passes. He’s just making the plays that are in front of him, and that’s just solid basketball. And that’s been good to see. I thought we would see some more way ups and way downs with this thing. …

“Maybe he was a little more closer to a point guard than we all thought he was, because he sure looks like a very good one now. Maybe he wasn’t as far away as we all thought.”

A massive portion of Maxey’s initiating the Sixers offense is his pick-and-roll chemistry with Embiid.

Embiid has been harping on the possibilities of that tandem since last season, before the pair worked together with Embiid’s personal trainer, Drew Hanlen, over the summer. When asked what has helped further sharpen the synergy between Maxey and Embiid, the point guard instantly said “trust.”

“It makes us even more dynamic,” Maxey said. “There’s times when he’ll give me the ball and expects me to make a play, instead of just giving him the ball all the time.”

Maxey matter-of-factly states that, for opposing defenses, his two-man game with Embiid must be “hard to figure out” because of each player’s diverse scoring repertoire. Most simply, if the defender drops back on the pick, that frees up Maxey to fire a three-pointer. If the defender stays up, the pocket pass to Embiid is available.

When Nurse breaks it down, he first praises Embiid’s screening to provide Maxey space to view the floor. Nurse adds that Embiid has been rolling more (instead of popping out for jump shots) than in the past, presenting passing opportunities for Maxey early and later in the shot clock as the play develops. Teammates, meanwhile, have been using cuts toward the basket and along the baseline to ensure the floor is not clogged.

And Embiid’s commitment to playmaking means Maxey often gets the ball back for a great look. In last week’s win over the Lakers, for instance, Embiid twice dropped a pass between his legs to Maxey for an open jumper.

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“He’s just getting better at understanding the pace of the game,” Embiid said. “I never felt like we got rushed, especially in our two-man action. … He kind of reminds me of what me and JJ [Redick] had, that combination. Obviously, [Maxey is] better just attacking the rim. He can put it on the floor and he’s a great shooter, so that’s a great combination.

“But I think his patience has been accepting what the defense has been giving him and just going from there and taking whatever’s available.”

Though Maxey has been high on opponents’ scouting reports for multiple seasons, he has noticed an even more significant uptick in defensive attention following that 50-point game. He takes it as a sign of respect, that opponents have “got pride. It’s the NBA. They’re not going to lay down at all.”

Maxey was immediately thrust into a unique scenario, facing the Pacers again two days after his career performance. When they got “extremely physical” on his drives, he acknowledged he tried to draw fouls instead of staying balanced to either finish or deliver a kick-out pass.

In a home loss to Boston, Maxey went 6-of-15 from the floor while relentless defender Derrick White occasionally face-guarded him at halfcourt. Maxey then faced an array of double teams in Atlanta on Nov. 17. And without Embiid at the Minnesota Timberwolves on Nov. 22, Maxey had his worst game of the season, with 16 points on 7-of-19 shooting, including 0-of-5 from three-point range.

Over six games from Nov. 14 to 22, his shooting percentage from the floor dipped to 39%.

“Once you become a star or superstar in this league, everything changes,” said Embiid, who is plenty familiar with such treatment. “Now people are game-planning on you. … Once you start putting your name out there, people are going to react and they’re going to make sure that they do everything in their power to stop you. It’s going to be like that every night …

“Whether it’s double- [or] triple-teams, you’ve got to find a way to stay dominant. It’s not easy.”

During that mini slump, Maxey believed his passing was an asset while defenders over-helped to swarm him. Yet during a Nov. 24 practice in Oklahoma City, Nurse emphasized that Maxey should look for more opportunities to score early in the shot clock, before defenses can get set and “load up” on him. Maxey also recently started taking more midrange jumpers, noticing defenders are also now focused on stopping the floater in addition to his layups and three-pointers.

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“Sometimes there’s just no need to go in [the lane],” Maxey said, “and me try to be super athletic or move the ball around and try to get fouled. … I’ve worked on [that mid-range shot]. Got to trust it. It’s a good look for me, and it’s a good look for us as a team, as well.”

In his three games since that poor outing at Minnesota, Maxey has shot 48.4% from the floor and averaged 30.7 points and 4.7 assists to snap out of that mini funk. And after a collection of quiet first quarters — his 64 field-goal attempts and shooting percentage of 37.5 (including 7-of-30 on three-point attempts) those opening 12 minutes are lower than any other period — Maxey told Nurse he would be more aggressive at the start of the win against the Lakers.

The result: He scored 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting and added three assists in the first quarter, helping propel the Sixers to a big lead in what turned into a 33-point performance.

“The past six or seven games, in the first quarter, I was just out there trying to go with the flow,” Maxey said. “I think that hurts our team more than it helps us.”

And as Maxey continues through this impressive season, Nurse and Embiid are adamant that the point guard’s ascension is far from finished.

“There’s still a long list of things that he’s got to go up, in my opinion,” Nurse said, coyly declining to reveal specifics when asked. “That he’s able to go up. … But I’m going to kind of keep those to myself right now.”