After another 40-plus point performance by Tyrese Maxey that featured some more fourth quarter heroics, Kelly Oubre Jr. was asked if this is the best he’s seen his point guard play so far.
Oubre said no, and gave a typical athlete reason. He sees how much work Maxey puts in and believes there is still more room for him to get even better. While he thinks that the best is still yet to come, he did offer some interesting insight into the edge Maxey is playing with this season.
“He’s definitely playing
with a little more of a chip on his shoulder,” Oubre said. “So I think this might be the most angry I’ve seen him play. Obviously, he’s not an angry person at all, so, yeah, that’s pretty huge for us.”
When Maxey took to the podium to discuss his 43-point night against the Orlando Magic, he didn’t quite agree, but saw where his teammate was coming from.
“I’m not angry, I’m happy,” Maxey said, “but I think the point he’s trying to make is maybe I don’t smile as much anymore. Maybe it’s because I’m older.”
Maxey’s smile has made him almost as famous as his blinding speed and sharpshooting ability on the basketball court. As he’s grown into an All-Star and the vocal leader of his team, he’s tried to present himself as more than just a happy-go-lucky guy.
The 24-win disaster of a season the Sixers went through took a toll on everyone in the organization, and few felt the weight of that more than Maxey. He’s expressed numerous times that he lost some enjoyment playing basketball early last season and had to get that back.
This year, he’s done everything in his power to make sure a season like that doesn’t happen again, and the measures he’s put in place have led to an exciting 3-0 start.
“I’m at the point in my career where I want us to be really good as a team, and I know that starts with me. So sometimes now, I can’t be all smiley all the time,” he said.
He’s still the same fun-loving guy he’s always been, but this year he is making sure business comes first. Two-way rookie Hunter Sallis saw both sides of this Maxey upon making his NBA debut. As the undrafted rookie checked into his very first professional game, he found himself being berated by Maxey from across the court. Studying from the school of Chris Paul, Maxey had noticed that Sallis’ jersey was untucked and wanted to avoid any penalty for that.
“Hunt was like, ‘why are you screaming at me before I came in the game?’ I said, ‘bro, cause you don’t have your shirt tucked in, if it gets us a delay of game I’m going to be really angry,‘” Maxey said, “and then he’s like, ‘I’m just happy to be in there.’ I said ‘my fault, you right.’”
Oubre is definitely right, Maxey is not an angry person. When it comes to winning though, everything takes a backseat for him.
