Tyrese Maxey’s Team USA snub will serve as fuel: ‘You can use everything as motivation’

INDIANAPOLIS — Tyrese Maxey is using his snub as motivation.

On Tuesday, the 76ers point guard was not listed among the 41 NBA players selected to the USA Basketball player pool for the 2024 Olympics. The roster will be trimmed down to a 12-man squad for this summer’s Games in Paris.

“I mean, it happens,” Maxey said Thursday of not being in the pool. “They have their guys and I understand it. I mean, maybe I didn’t do enough. Hopefully, I can try to do some more so I can try to get recognized for the next time.

“But it’s not going to make me upset. I mean, I understand it, and I still want them to win, so hey.”

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Maxey, in his fourth NBA season, is one of the league’s emerging young stars.

He’s in contention to make his first Eastern Conference All-Star team this season as a reserve. The 23-year-old is also a leading candidate for the league’s most improved player award.

Maxey was averaging career highs in points (25.8 per game), rebounds (3.7), assists (6.7) and steals (1.0) through his first 41 games. He scored a career-high 50 points on Nov. 12 against the Indiana Pacers, and has tallied 30-plus points 12 times.

“You can use everything as motivation,” Maxey said. “And [being snubbed], that’s something you mark on the list, of course.”

Sixers center Joel Embiid is one of the pool’s headliners. Jalen Brunson (New York Knicks), Steph Curry (Golden State Warriors), De’Aaron Fox (Sacramento Kings), Tyrese Haliburton (Indiana Pacers), Damian Lillard (Milwaukee Bucks), Chris Paul (Warriors), and Trae Young (Atlanta Hawks) are the point guards in the pool.

Asked how he’s feeling, De’Anthony Melton responded, “I’m straight.”

So the shooting guard was asked when he expects to return from a stress reaction in his lumbar spine.

“[Shoot], it’s day by day at this point,” he said with a perplexed look. “It’s day by day. I just have to go get my treatment, rehab, along with a ramp-up process.”

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Including Thursday’s tilt at the Pacers, Melton will have missed nine of the last 11 games because of the injury.

Right now, he’s able to do stationary things and conditioning before getting back to full workouts.

The Sixers have missed his defensive presence. Melton is fourth in the league in steals (1.6 per game), fifth in deflections (3.2), and sixth in deflections per 36 minutes (4.0).

He’s also averaging a career-high 11.6 points along with 4.0 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 1.6 steals.