Sixers’ Tyrese Maxey Makes Bold Claim About Co-Star James Harden

Getty yrese Maxey #0 and James Harden #1 of the Philadelphia 76ers.

On paper, the Philadelphia 76ers have one of the deepest lineups in professional basketball. But you don’t win a championship “on paper.” In the real world, where the Sixers are really trying to win a title, the team is 4-4, Joel Embiid is in poor form, and the bench looks like it decided to extend its preseason a few weeks.

For all of the Sixers’ woes, at least two players have taken the season seriously so far: Tyrese Maxey and James Harden. Maxey’s picked up on where he left off last season, exploding for a career-high 44 points against the Toronto Raptors. Harden, for his part, has been one of the league’s best assist-men this season, notching 17 assists against the Washington Wizards Monday night.

After the game, Maxey called out Harden’s role as a passer, arguing it’s an underappreciated prt of the guard’s game.

“[Harden] knows where guys need to be and how to get guys the ball. He’s a willing passer. I think that’s one thing a lot of people don’t give him credit for because he’s one of the greatest scorers of all time, also. Being one of the greatest passers and one of the greatest scorers, what does that make you? I guess one of the greatest players of all time. It’s just great to play with him. I take it as a blessing.”

Harden’s been busy so far this season on the court and off-the-court, having recently added a local sports apparel brand to the list of his investments.

Embiid & Harden Invest in Local Business

Last week, it was reported by Eben Novy-Williams of Sportico that Joel Embiid and James Harden would become part-owners of Mitchell & Ness, a sports apparel company founded in Philadelphia in 1904. Embiid and Harden are joined by a slew of other stars, including LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Chris Paul.

Mitchell & Ness is majority-owned by Fanatics, which is owned by Michael Rubin. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because, until this summer, Rubin was an owner of the Philadelphia 76ers. But Rubin sold his Sixers stock to avoid a conflict between the team and his rapidly expanding Fanatics brand.

Rubin shepherded Fanatics from its inception twenty years ago to its place today as one of the world’s premier sports brands.

Rubin Has Built Fanatics From Ground Up

When he left the Sixers, Rubin shared a heartfelt message on Twitter that documented Fanatics’ meteoric rise.

“When I was part of the ownership group that acquired the Sixers in 2011, Fanatics was just getting started with a small office in King of Prussia selling only licensed sports products online,” the Pennsylvania native said in a statement posted on Twitter. “Today, Fanatics has quickly transformed into a global digital sports platform across multiple businesses, with more than 10,000 employees in 57 countries and serving nearly 100 million sports fans worldwide.”

Today, Fanatics has a hand in just about every sports-related market. Earlier in the year, Fanatics purchased Topps, the sports cards company, in a blockbuster deal. In addition, Fanatics plans to roll out a sports gambling house next year, expanding its business offerings even further.