‘You’ve got to go home’: Tyrese Maxey’s work ethic as a seldom-used Sixers rookie set the table for his breakout season

During a grueling pre-sunrise workout in the Dallas metroplex, Tyrone Maxey demanded more out of his teenage son, Tyrese.

“It was dark and nobody was there but me and him,” Tyrese recently recalled. “I probably wasn’t going as hard as his liking, and he told me, ‘Dude, this is when people are made — when no one’s in the gym.’”

The intangible drive instilled in Maxey at a formative age has already become a significant portion of the 21-year-old’s NBA reputation. But back when Dad delivered that motivational early morning message, Maxey received the immediate payoff the following day when he starred in a big high school game. That was almost always the case as a young Maxey morphed into a five-star recruit, then a one-and-done Kentucky player, then a first-round draft pick.

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The situation changed when Maxey entered the NBA last season. As a rookie guard for a 76ers team with the Eastern Conference’s best regular-season record, Maxey went long stretches without game minutes and never quite knew when he would play next. That’s why outsiders may consider the past six months to be a breakout turn for Maxey, one that will land him on ballots for the league’s Most Improved Player award after averaging 17.5 points on 48.5% shooting, 4.3 assists, 3.2 rebounds, and 35.3 minutes during the regular season. Next, he will play a crucial role as the Sixers begin their first-round playoff series against the Toronto Raptors Saturday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

But inside the Sixers’ practice facility last season, Maxey had already begun to gain trust and credibility with his new coaches and teammates as he developed his game. His committed approach set the table for these results, just as it always had. The only difference was the wait to transfer it all to the floor.

“That’s motivation to work even harder, because you’re not playing,” Maxey said of that time in his career. “You know you’re probably not going to get in the game. You’re not going to be sore from the night before. I always tried to be the first one in the gym, especially if I didn’t play or I didn’t play as much.

“It showed resilience, and it really trained my mind to know that I can do these things, that I can be successful at this level.”

Ask Maxey if last season created the foundation for this one, and he is quick to offer the correction that one must go much further back to when he was in second or third grade.

His father is a longtime basketball coach and trainer who remains diligent about sharpening his own craft of developing players. Earlier this season, it took him more than five minutes to break down the comprehensive daily workouts he concocted for a young Tyrese, who was drilled on technique inspired by All-Stars Kyrie Irving and Stephen Curry and coach Fred Hoiberg.

They would begin with about 30 minutes of 30-second intervals. The exercises ranged from general fitness, such as wall sits and jumping rope, to basketball-specific drills, such as rebounding a ball at its highest point before landing outside the paint and tip-ins with each hand. Then, they moved on to spot shooting all over the floor, then one-dribble pull-ups, then jab steps with a shot, then transition three-pointers (“I wish I had done a lot more of that with him,” Tyrone lamented about that final skill). One ballhandling drill required Tyrese to quickly pick up a tennis ball off the floor and put it back down while dribbling a basketball between his legs.

The time the workout took place was almost as important as what it entailed.

“I want to get in the gym before anybody,” Tyrese told his dad. “I have a mental advantage.”

Maxey brought that routine to the Sixers. He arrived at the facility around 8 o’clock the morning after games, about two hours before any rotation players joined. He started with 50 close-range shots, then 70 midrange jumpers and then 70 three-pointers. He simulated game scenarios, such as taking three-pointers off the dribble when the defender went under the screen. He played one-on-one with player development coach Spencer Rivers and “low-minute games” with the other non-rotation players to maintain his cardiovascular endurance.

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He called working with Rivers, the son of head coach Doc Rivers, and assistant Sam Cassell, a longtime standout NBA point guard, “light but serious.” And important people in the organization quickly recognized Maxey’s regimen.

“It’s rare that our development staff is tested [with] being asked to be available constantly,” Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey told The Inquirer earlier this season. “But Tyrese definitely pushed to put in the most work. … A big thing that determines whether a young player makes it is their habits. He has a daily work ethic that not everyone that age has.

“Doc has put together a really good player-development staff, and I think Tyrese is really making the most of it.”

Maxey’s sporadic minutes as a rookie, however, yielded inconsistent results. Doc Rivers wanted to get an early look at Maxey’s speed but realized quickly “he wasn’t ready yet.” The coach was befuddled that Maxey was automatic from three-point range in practice — he had spent his predraft process putting more arc on his previously flat shot after struggling at Kentucky — but “didn’t make a damn shot in the game.”

Rivers also got frustrated when Maxey relied too much on his floater instead of using his explosiveness to get all the way to the rim to create scoring chances for himself and others. He shot 46.2% from the floor and 30.1% from long range in his first season, an d averaged 8.0 points and 2.0 assists in 15.3 minutes per game.

Maxey acknowledged the uncertain playing time challenged him mentally. When he did get in games, the belief that making shots was the only way he would stay on the floor “was kind of always on my mind.” Shortly after the All-Star break, Doc Rivers pulled Maxey aside for a conversation and encouraged him to “just be you.” Spencer Rivers and Cassell, meanwhile, continued to drill Maxey on getting downhill and into the paint.

“That’s as hard of a thing to work on as anything, because that takes a crapload of energy in practice,” Doc Rivers said. “Coming off a pick and shooting a jump shot, that doesn’t take a lot of energy. Coming off a pick and turning the corner 100 times in a row, that takes a lot of willpower. And the fact that [Maxey] did that just tells you a lot about him.”

At mother Denyse’s suggestion, Maxey also intently studied his teammates and opposing players from the bench during games, then again on film. Meanwhile, veteran wing Danny Green could see Maxey’s 6-foot-2 frame building up to complement his “bounce,” contagiously positive energy and willingness to accept criticism. Maxey’s mentality also reminded Tobias Harris of himself as a rookie, and they regularly discussed patience on bus rides following road games.

“[I told him], ‘If you were on a terrible team, a bottom-five team, you would be out there playing and you would average 17-18 points,’” Harris said. “But, I said, there’s growth and development of being on a winning team and understanding that will be able to help you sustain in the long run. It’s just a matter of an opportunity.”

That arrived on the playoff stage, when Maxey compiled four double-digit scoring games and totaled 16 points and seven rebounds in the Sixers’ second-round Game 6 win over the Atlanta Hawks. At the Sixers’ 2021-22 preseason media day a few months later, Green had the confidence to call Maxey “special,” while Rivers proclaimed Maxey would be a major contributor whether or not disgruntled All-Star Ben Simmons ever played basketball for their team again.

With Simmons holding out, Maxey took over as starting point guard. When an early-season COVID-19 outbreak hit the team, he became the go-to scorer. Now, while sharing a backcourt with perennial All-Star James Harden, Maxey has drilled a blistering 48% of his three-pointers since the All-Star break, and finished the regular season as the NBA’s leader in made finishes to the right of the rim. Those who said months ago that Maxey is a future All-Star look brilliant today, and his ability to score in bunches and with flair has made him perhaps this season’s most lovable Sixer.

In the days between games, Maxey initially tried to maintain the same relentless routine. But when an early-season text to Spencer Rivers inquiring about the next morning’s workout went unanswered, Maxey dialed his coach on FaceTime. He was initially confused by Rivers’ instruction to stay away from the facility and rest.

Doc Rivers has now coined the reasoning for these mandatory days off “The Tyrese Rule.”

“Every time I’d go in there to get treatment, early in the year,” Green added, “it was like, ‘You’ve got to go home. Get off the floor. Why are you here?’”

Maxey has become more comfortable with those breaks peppering the longest basketball season of his life. He calls head athletic trainer Kevin Johnson “the man with the plan” to keep his body fresh and healthy. If Maxey knows he should not overextend himself on a particular off day but still wants to feel a basketball, he will work on less taxing skills such as form shooting or free throws.

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After Maxey scored 13 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter of the shorthanded Sixers’ 113-106 March 21 victory over the top-seeded Miami Heat, Jimmy Butler — the former Sixer who is also known for his tireless regimen — was asked about his backcourt opponent.

“I hear how hard he works,” Butler said of Maxey, “and I definitely respect him and his game.”

Maxey grinned at that assessment, “because that’s really all I’m about.” And after a rookie season of mostly behind-the-scenes hours, Maxey is back to receiving the immediate on-court payoff.

Next up: playing a key role in front of a home postseason crowd as the Sixers’ championship chase begins.

“Not to toot my own horn, but that’s all I really [attribute] all this stuff to,” he said. “I tell everybody, ‘The work you put in when no one’s around always comes to light when you’re playing in front of thousands.’”