Summary

Tyrese Maxey, a basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers, is known for his joyful demeanor and impressive skills on the court.

Abstract

Tyrese Maxey, a former #1 pick by the Philadelphia 76ers, has had a tumultuous career thus far. Despite losing his house in a fire and dealing with injuries and COVID protocols, Maxey has remained a valuable player to the team. He was thrust into the point guard position after Ben Simmons was traded, and his stats have improved significantly. However, it's not just his skills on the court that make him stand out. Maxey's joyful and boyish demeanor has won over even the most hardened of opposing fans. He has been described as the happiest man that coach Doc Rivers knows.

Opinions

Tyrese Maxey is a gifted basketball player who has been through a lot in his career.
Maxey's ceiling as a player has not yet been reached.
Maxey's joyful demeanor on the court is infectious and has won over even the most hardened of opposing fans.
Maxey's value to the team goes beyond his stats and is evident in the joy he brings to those who watch him play.

The Happiest Man I Know

And I can get to see him 82 times a year…...

Last year, this man saw his house burn down Christmas Eve with his family inside. Fortunately, no one was injured. He did lose much of all he’d worked for in the fire.

He had been drafted as a #1 pick by the Philadelphia 76er’s after playing only one abbreviated year at the University of Kentucky. The season cut short prematurely because of COVID restrictions.

The fact that Tyrese Maxey dropped to #21 in the draft was his hard luck and to the Sixer’s good fortune.

He started the first 24 games in his rookie season and played sparingly after being the player left out because of the Ben Simmons debacle.

His stats for the 2020 season don’t begin to show the value to the team (to all humanity).

Min. per game 15.3 — Pts 8.0 — Reb.1.7 — Ast.2.0

After Ben Simmons declared himself mentally ill, refused to play and got traded to the Brooklyn Nets during the 2021–22 season Maxey was annointed to man the Sixer point.

Hard to believe he’d never played point guard before.

Assorted injuries in addition to; not once but twice being grounded in deference to the COVID protocol kept him sidelined this season for a number of games

This gifted guy has been through it.

Most say his ceiling hasn’t been nearly reached.

Stats for the 64 games in which he’s played this season:

Min. per game — 35.6— Pts.17.4 — Reb. — 3.4 — Ast. — 4.3

However, it isn’t the fact that he’s simply a good basketball player that motivates this article: it’s the shear joy that he brings to those who watch him perform.

This includes everyone who has the privilege.

I’ve seen even the most hardened of opposing fans, a group here-to-fore thought impossible to please, light up with Maxey’s boyish joy of applying his considerable talents in the NBA.

The beauty of it all is that you have the feeling that he’d get the same unbridled delight playing pickup using a basket with a portable water weight holding it down on any street in any suburb, city, or farm barnyard in the world.

Maxey would enjoy shooting a rock in the original peach basket.

He’s the straw that stirs the 76er cocktail.

Veteran coach Doc Rivers probably described the Tyrese Maxey phenomenon best when interviewed by Angelo Cataldi and the morning crew on WIP in Philadelphia.

After heaping praise on his spark plug of a point guard’s basketball ability, he said simply:

He’s the happiest man I know.

This story was self-published 3/22/22