Jason Kidd believes that the Philadelphia 76ers team are Tyrese Maxey’s team, despite the presence of other stars like LeBron James, Jaylen Brown and Joel Embiid.
The 25-year-old had the biggest season of his career last season, in which he averaged 28.3 points and 6.6 assists. His brilliant performance helped him earn an All-NBA Third Team selection.
With the arrival of James and Brown, Maxey was expected to take the back seat, but already in two games, he has shown that the keys of the team are his.
Jason Kidd believes Tyrese Maxey has a great chance to grow
Maxey did not enter the league with the expectation of being a star in the league. However, every season so far, he has elevated his performance and played second fiddle on the roster behind players like Ben Simmons, Embiid and James Harden.
Even with Brown and James coming in, they were expected to lead the 76ers, but the talent Maxey possesses has helped him take the leap and become the best player on the roster.
“I truly believe this is Maxey’s team, I truly believe they’re going to go where he goes. I think he’s an All-Star, he’s one of the best young guards, I truly believe they have the best young backcourts in the league with VJ. I think he has the best player to ever play the game in LeBron… I think he’s the engine,” said Kidd on Inside the NBA.
Kidd appeared on Inside the NBA before the Philadelphia 76ers’ 29-point comeback win against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Maxey proved in this game why Kidd might have been right, as he led the 76ers in scoring, adding 32 points for the team in a 114-106 win.
What made the night special was that Maxey scored 17 of his 32 points in the second half, a period where the 76ers outscored the Cavaliers 69-37. He led the way for them and motivated his teammates to respond strongly in front of a Philly crowd, who were booing the players after the first half display.
“I said, ‘Well, it’s time to see what we made of. Are we going to be some front-runners and only be happy when stuff is good? Or when stuff is bad, are we going to fight and be resilient?’ And we did that,” Maxey said in his post-game press conference.
In two games, Maxey is averaging 30 points and 5.5 assists, but he is also making a lot of noise on the defensive end, recording 5 steals this season. Despite having stars with championship experience, Maxey is playing like the best player on the team, which shows how special he is. With 80 games still left, it will be interesting to see how he evolves and where the 76ers finish with him as their star player.
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