I can’t imagine what it must feel like to be an All-Star like Tyrese Maxey, when many fans are hoping the team loses to improve lottery odds.
Regardless of which path he chooses, Joel Embiid has on-court adjustments to make, argued our Josh Grieb. And Paul George, (who doesn’t look anything like the splash no-brainer max player the Sixers thought they were getting last summer) thinks this team simply doesn’t have the heart of a champion. But holy smokes, is Tyrese Maxey in a super weird spot right now.
I find it hard to root against Tyrese Maxey. You know, like Joel Embiid, he is a fiercely competitive dude, the joy he plays with is infectious (at least for the fans if not all of his teammates at the moment) … and you just know he’s going to do all he can to keep this team in the Play-In hunt.
But in no way, shape or form would it be good for the franchise or the fans if the Sixers won just enough games to lose their No. 1-6 protected pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder. As if the Thunder aren’t good enough? Yuck.
Nick Nurse is still saying the Sixers are “not at all” at the point of even considering shutting Embiid down.
If you were traveling from anywhere in the greater Delaware Valley to South Broad to go watch the Philadelphia 76ers play a game, and you saw Embiid listed as “questionable,” would you want to see him play? Let’s say you have tickets and you’re driving an hour or more to the game knowing the 2023 NBA MVP is likely a game-time decision, and knowing full well that even if the Cameroonian native does suit up, it may make you cringe to simply watch … would you hope he sits out on the night you arrive? Our Greg Frank illustrated that there are lot of different emotions one might feel regarding this amazing talent who just can’t stay healthy.
So where does it leave Maxey? He’s clearly the best player on this team and he wants to lead them to wins every time he’s out there. And yet a major portion of the fan base may be actively rooting against him from delivering. Can you imagine the feeling of honing your skills all summer long, becoming the best version of yourself you can possibly be, and knowing deep down that if you took a potential game-winning triple, a sizable portion of the fans in The Center and at home may not even want that shot to go in?
“I guess we think that we can ease our way into games, and that’s not — obviously we’ve shown it, that’s not gonna help us in the long run, not gonna help us in our current position as well,” the Kentucky product recently noted. You just can’t “cheat the game” Maxey added, perhaps tacitly calling out a few of his teammates for dogging it. “Guys are getting better, coaches are getting better, schemes are getting better, and you have to go out there and fight every single night.”
And how did the team respond to those disconcerting words? Welp… tanking is one thing but Monday’s loss to the Bulls is another, argued our Gordie Jones.
Maybe you’re one of those fans who knows that the NBA Draft Lottery is a crap shoot, and even if the team is able to lose enough games to retain their pick, we don’t even know that they’d find a helpful player. (They’d probably trade the pick anyway though.) And if you’re not all in on the tank, maybe you’re hoping the team follows Maxey’s lead and gives much more than they’ve given recently.
But either way, Maxey is in a super weird place. Because he’s not going to quit. He’s going to continue to produce and give fans his all. But somewhere in his psyche, he has to know that if the Sixers are ever in a tight game in the fourth quarter again this season, when he puts up a shot, there will be fans of his hoping it rims out. And that has to be one of the weirdest feelings a young phenom can feel. Imagine being a sports fan in Philadelphia Sixers fan?