Maxey misses the cut for Eastern Conference All-Star reserves originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Tyrese Maxey did not make the cut for the NBA’s Eastern Conference All-Star reserves.
After being named to his first All-Star Game last year, Maxey was not among the seven East reserves selected by the NBA’s head coaches. Those players were announced Thursday night as:
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Jaylen Brown
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Cade Cunningham
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Darius Garland
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Tyler Herro
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Damian Lillard
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Evan Mobley
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Pascal Siakam
Maxey’s averaged 27.1 points, 6.0 assists and 3.5 rebounds. He’s often been the primary star and one of the few reliably available players for the 19-27 Sixers, who have dealt with a deluge of injuries. Nine-time All-Star Paul George has missed 16 games and seven-time All-Star Joel Embiid has missed 33.
“I’m totally biased, but he’s got to be an All-Star,” Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said with a smile after Maxey’s 43-point night Tuesday in the Sixers’ win over the Lakers. “He’s got to be. What is that, 11 straight games with 28 (points) or more? That’s pretty good. If they voted, I say we vote again — if he didn’t make it. Hopefully, he’ll make it. He deserves to make it.”
The scoring streak Nurse mentioned is now at 12 consecutive games following Maxey’s 30-point, eight-assist performance Wednesday in the Sixers’ victory vs. the Kings.
While his shooting percentages have declined from last year, Maxey’s near the top of the NBA in several key categories. He’s officially second in minutes per game (37.9), third in steals per game (1.9) and sixth in scoring average.
After winning the league’s Most Improved Player Award last season, he’s made the progress Nurse hoped to see defensively.
“My defense has been a lot better,” Maxey said Tuesday. “I just needed time to get adjusted to the NBA game, get a little bit stronger. I’m not going to lie, when I was in college and high school, I was a good defender. But when I first came into the league, I had to learn how to play pick-and-roll defense. I had to learn how to play team defense. It’s way different. And then I missed my whole training camp my rookie year, basically (after testing positive for COVID-19).
“So all the principles and all that stuff, I didn’t get it. I had to kind of learn it on the fly, learn it throughout the year. Now, having multiple training camps, being in multiple playoff games, big-time games, I kind of just know the game and know everybody’s tendencies. I sit on the couch every single day starting at 7 (p.m.) and I watch all the basketball games, so I know everybody’s tendencies and that’s helped me.”
Maxey’s stepped into a larger leadership role this season, too.
“From last year to this year, he obviously has a new contract and all that stuff,” KJ Martin said on Dec. 18. “I was happy for him, but he’s stayed the same person inside. That was probably the biggest thing, just him as a person and him using his voice. He’s been using it way more. Everyone sees kind of the nice side of him, but he can turn it on and get on guys.”
This year’s All-Star Game will be on Sunday, Feb. 16 at Chase Center in San Francisco.
Sixers rookie Jared McCain has been named a 2025 Rising Star, though he won’t compete in the event itself because he’s out following season-ending left lateral meniscus surgery.
