NEW YORK — Philadelphia 76ers star Tyrese Maxey has morphed into one of the top players in this league in his six years in the NBA. It has been a meteoric rise for the young man out of Kentucky after being the No. 21 pick of the 2020 draft.
In his six seasons, Maxey has been named an All-Star and won the Most Improved Player award in 2024 while developing into one of the top 3-point shooters in the league right now. He had a tough 2024-25 season in terms of team success and his shooting percentages, but he developed in another way: becoming a leader.
Maxey has quickly morphed into Philadelphia’s vocal leader. Whatever it is that Maxey says, the team listens and follows his lead. A big proponent for him to take those steps forward: 20-year veteran Kyle Lowry.
“Lead,” Maxey said when asked what the biggest lesson he’s learned from Lowry has been. “He’s like my leader. He comes to me and leads me, and I try to lead the team. So I couldn’t do this without him, honestly, right now. He calls me at least three or four times a day and we talk, but it’s good though. I really—I’m glad he’s here, and I appreciate him, and we appreciate him.”
Lowry has seen it all in his 20 years in the league. He has seen ups and downs. His ups include leading the Toronto Raptors to their first championship in 2019 and his downs include the failures the Raptors had before that run to the title. There is a lot of knowledge he has passed down to Maxey and the other Sixers.
“He works out every day,” Maxey added of Lowry. “He works out hard every day. He’s in there with me early. He rebounds, he screens. He also works out sometimes. He watches VJ (Edgecombe), he watches Jared (McCain), like, what he’s doing for our team right now, and he’s up cheering every single—like, that’s a Hall of Famer we’re talking about. His jersey is probably getting retired in Toronto and he’s up cheering for everybody and motivating people and talking in the locker room. I got nothing but love and respect for KLow and we appreciate having him.”
