Mar 1, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey before action against the Golden State Warriors at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

76ers' Nick Nurse Gives Insight on Tyrese Maxey's Season

Originally posted on Philadelphia 76ers on SI
By Declan Harris | Last updated Apr 17, 2025 7:48 AM ET

It’s no secret that the Philadelphia 76ers struggled with injuries this season, as both Paul George and Joel Embiid found themselves on the bench throughout the course of the season. Given the gap in production, all eyes looked towards Tyrese Maxey, who was coming off of a campaign which earned him the Most Improved Player award.

While Maxey would improve his scoring numbers slightly, it looked as if he struggled to jump to a whole new level, something that he’d done over the last two seasons as he’s continued to step into a bigger role in Philadelphia. This was something Nick Nurse talked about in his end-of-year press conference, seeing that his attempts to put the team off of his back hurt his efficiency numbers.

"I think if you look down the surface at his numbers and shooting percentages, things are down from a year ago," said Nurse, " [I] would reiterate that I think he's taken two big leaps forward each year defensively. Some of those numbers, I think were really, if I worked backwards, were really affected late in the year, when he was trying to play through... I think he ended like one for 22 from three or something, so again, that's not going to help any of those numbers."

Apart from his rim-running playstyle, one of the key traits that Maxey has is that he’s always wearing a smile, whether in victory or defeat. It’s another thing that Nurse felt was off this season, highlighting the absence of his co-stars as a possible contributing factor.

"I thought he was great prior to that, then he didn't start the year as great... this is more my gut, is that I think he was just kind of wasn't himself," explained Nurse. "He was just almost disappointed that we were having the injuries, like they were so excited to get out there and see what this team could do, then those two guys kind of weren't there for a large part of that. I just think he wasn't kind of his old chipper self, and then he's getting the gauntlet thrown at him defensively, doubled-teamed like crazy you know, so it was some adjusting to that."