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Tyrese Maxey has had James Harden as a teammate on the Philadelphia 76ers for over a year now. Having shared the backcourt with the former MVP, Maxey opened up about the impact Harden has had on him as a mentor since joining the Sixers.
“I’ve learned a lot from James,” Maxey told Jackson Frank of Uproxx. “He’s been great. He’s been great on and off the court. On the court, for sure, he’s taught me so many different things. He’s taught me to be confident. He’s taught me to be myself. He’s just really helped me be someone who can go out there every single night and perform at the highest level, and help our team win.”
Maxey added that Harden told him that his intention was to help him as a player.
“He still helps with confidence, as far as telling me that he’s here to help me. He said that from day one. He said he wouldn’t be here to hinder my progress. He’s gonna only be here to help and I think he’s done that, man. He’s kinda taken me under his wing and helped me be successful, even more successful than I was before.”
Though Maxey has seen a minutes decrease from 35.3 to 33.4 this season, his shot attempts have gone up from 13.3 to 15.5, leading to a career-high scoring average of 20.5 points a game.
Michael Malone Calls Out Tyrese Maxey
Despite being down both Harden and Joel Embiid, Maxey almost wielded the Sixers to victory over the Denver Nuggets, losing 116-111. Maxey’s performance in the game drew the attention of Nuggets head coach Mike Malone.
“Yeah, it was big,” Malone told reporters after the game, per the Nuggets’ official YouTube channel. “I mean he had 25 points in the first half. Only four in the second, and we knew without James and Joel playing that he and Tobias (Harris) especially would be really aggressive. And as you mentioned, I think he had 20 in the second quarter alone and that was my challenge to our guys. We gave up 39 points in that second quarter and I said, ‘how are they scoring?’ It was just one-on-one, everybody just taking turns going one-on-one and scoring way too easy.”
Malone then praised both Maxey for how good he is and his team for how well they covered him.
“He’s a hell of a young talent. He’s been playing at a very high level for them, whether he’s starting or coming off the bench, he produces. But I thought second half, our guys took the challenge of guarding him and doing a much better job.”
Monty Williams Calls out Tyrese Maxey
Even though the Sixers would also go on to lose to the Phoenix Suns before losing to the Nuggets, Maxey again drew the attention of their head coach, Monty Williams.
During his postgame press conference, Williams singled out Maxey’s abilities as a scorer while talking about how the Suns stifled the Sixers.
“If you think about their team and how they shoot and score the ball, to hold these guys to 105, I mean that’s a huge accomplishment for us,” Williams said after the game, per the Jump View YouTube Channel. “I thought we got timely stops tonight. I mean Maxey was shooting the ball well but nobody else got loose and that was huge. Again, coming off of a back-to-back, and again, our best offense is a defensive stop.”
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Tyrese Maxey Issues Statement on James Harden’s Mentorship Role