January 09, 2026
Bill Streicher/Imagn Images
Five years ago, Tyrese Maxey got his first NBA start and put himself on the map.
PHILADELPHIA – Any person who has spent time around Tyrese Maxey during his rise from No. 21 overall pick to NBA superstar has heard the story by now.
The day was Jan. 9, 2021. Because of a COVID-19 outbreak within the Sixers, it was unclear if they would be able to play their scheduled game that afternoon against a loaded Denver Nuggets team. Maxey, a rookie at the end of head coach Doc Rivers' rotation without even 150 NBA minutes under his belt, crossed paths with Joel Embiid, one of the league's most dominant two-way forces who had just been ruled out for the game.
"I think you can get 40 tonight," Embiid told Maxey.
"40?" Maxey asked. "In an NBA game?"
To that point in his young professional career, Maxey had only averaged 6.9 points per game. But with Embiid, Ben Simmons and several other key Sixers sidelined, the rookie who had just turned 20 years old would have to put the team on his back. As it turned out, Embiid's prediction was not as crazy as Maxey thought at the time.
Five years ago on Friday, Maxey scored 39 points in his very first NBA start. He did it without a single free throw, making 18 of his 33 shot attempts from the field. He led a group of seven players, now fondly remembered as the "Seven Sixers," into battle against a healthy Nuggets team that day, and the group staged a valiant effort. Maxey stole the show:
Jan. 9, 2021: Sixers rookie guard Tyrese Maxey makes his first NBA start as the only ball-handler in a seven-man rotation and scores 39 points (18-33 FG) against the Denver Nuggets: pic.twitter.com/bFdT4fMUC0
— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) January 6, 2026
Tony Bradley, one half of the Sixers' available bench that day, told PhillyVoice last month that he thinks about the game every single time he returns to Philadelphia – not just because of the absurdity of it all, but because the group was able to stick together and make it a competitive game. They were facing one of the greatest players of a generation, Nikola Jokić, and a Nuggets team that was one of the NBA's best. It should have been a complete decimation.
"I don't [remember] the outcome of the game," Bradley said. "But I know it wasn't a blowout."
Maxey started alongside two decorated veterans in Danny Green and Dwight Howard, as well as a pair of rookies with even less experience: second-round pick Isaiah Joe and undrafted two-way signee Dakota Mathias, both of whom were also making their first NBA starts. Bradley and rookie second-rounder Paul Reed, also on a two-way deal at the time, were the Sixers' lone reserves. Maxey was the only ball-handler available for the Sixers that day, and for a string of ensuing games.
In a phone conversation with PhillyVoice last month, Green laughed as he recalled being forced to play on the ball when Maxey got his few minutes of rest while the Sixers were short short-handed.
“I had to play point guard," Green said. "They subbed Tyrese out for 30 seconds, they pressed me and I'm like, ‘Doc, I can't f*cking do this. You’ve got to get a point guard in.'”
After hanging in during the first half, the Sixers started to fall apart in the third quarter. But with Denver on the verge of blowing them out of the water, Maxey's continued scoring eruption enabled the Sixers to keep the point differential respectable. He took full advantage of the tremendous opportunity rarely afforded to an NBA rookie: show what you can do as a primary scorer.
"I wasn't really even thinking like that," Maxey told PhillyVoice on Monday. "I was just trying to help us, like, at least try to attempt to win. I didn't want us to get blown out or nothing like that."
From the unusual visuals – two players on the bench, no fans in the crowd, Maxey being the one to ring the bell before the game and six players taking the court for opening warmups – to the odd tenor of the game itself, everyone involved remembers how bizarre it all was five years later.
“Everything was weird, man. The whole day was just weird," Maxey said. "It was an awkward day. We had a pretty good start to that season, so it was like – it was just awkward, man."
HERE COME THE SIXERS BABY pic.twitter.com/ubj4RFuHwm
— Adam Aaronson (@SixersAdam) January 9, 2021
In reality, the 36 hours or so leading up to that game starting were just as odd as the game itself. Mathias still remembers it well.
Two nights before tip-off against the Nuggets, the Sixers finished a game in Brooklyn. Right after that contest ended, the team found out that Seth Curry had tested positive for COVID-19. Contact tracing ensued, with more Sixers being placed in the league's health and safety protocols. The Sixers had to stay quarantined at their New York hotel before six or seven buses arrived to bring the team back to Philadelphia in a safe capacity. Even after they arrived home, the situation was touch and go.
"I think we took two or three tests a day, just seeing who was in and who was out and waiting to see," Mathias told PhillyVoice in a phone interview last month. "I think there were a number of games getting canceled around that time and throughout the day, more and more people were testing positive. We were very unsure if we were going to play that next game. I think we woke up the day of the game and they said, 'Come to the arena.' We had a little shootaround, there was just a few of us there, still thinking the game probably was going to get called off because there wasn't that many of us. But we ended up playing."
At one point the morning of the game, the Sixers appeared to have nine players available. The NBA's minimum is eight. When the Sixers ruled out Embiid and Simmons with previously undocumented injuries – perhaps in an attempt to prompt a postponement – the decision came down that Mike Scott, injured at the time himself, would wear a uniform to ensure the game could go on even though Scott could not actually play.
Mathias described a constant feeling of needing to check one's phone for notifications about players ruled out. "All I knew was that I was good," Bradley said as he described the hours of shuffling.
Now that Maxey has blossomed into such a terrific player, it is easy for him to laugh about that game in retrospect. For someone like Green – a 15-year NBA veteran and three-time champion who was in Philadelphia for the first two years of Maxey's career, plus the first few games of Maxey's fourth campaign – the "Seven Sixers" saga stands out among hundreds of them because it was such an oddity.But for someone like Mathias, that game presented the opportunity of a lifetime. Mathias logged 80 of the 139 minutes in his NBA career between the matchup against Denver and the Sixers' following game."Obviously very, very appreciative of it. That's the dream growing up: to be able to play in the NBA, sign that contract in the NBA," Mathias said. "To be able to say I started two games and played 80 combined minutes, that's what you dream of as a kid. So just to have that opportunity was very special."Embiid has made comments about Maxey being the Sixers' best player and the face of the franchise for a lot longer than it has been an opinion anyone has held publicly. He has taken tremendous personal satisfaction in Maxey's ascent to where he is as a sixth-year player: a true household name in the NBA. Five years ago, Maxey's professional career had just started, but it was already clear to him that he had an ardent supporter in Embiid, who immediately saw something in the young guard.
"I think Jo saw it pretty early. I mean, we did. We believed in him early," Rivers said in 2024. "We believed in him before he started making shots, because you guys never got the chance to shoot in the gym, and that's where coaches, we see guys every day. And for a while, I couldn't imagine how he was missing. I remember [thinking] his rookie year in games, 'Gosh, he never misses.' Now, he never misses. But I think Jo was really early on that bus, to be honest."
Maxey missed part of his first NBA training camp because he had tested positive for COVID-19. Once he got with the team, the story goes, Embiid gifted Maxey a PlayStation and made it clear he was going to do all he could to support the 19-year-old who had just experienced a surprising draft slide. Maxey has always said Embiid was the first person with the Sixers to believe in him, and he called that faith "extremely" important to his growth on the floor. He reiterated that belief during the 2024 offseason, when the Sixers put together an exhibit of sorts to express their appreciation for Maxey.
Embiid attended that gathering, and in one of the videos made for Maxey the former NBA MVP began his statement with "I think you're the best teammate I've ever had."
for the Franchise. pic.twitter.com/cJNWTL2yT0
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) July 8, 2024
From Embiid, it was a statement that Maxey had paid off that early belief.
"I think he saw what I could do in training camp the couple of days that I was there," Maxey said. "[I was] playing with the third group, and then I ended up playing with the second group, I played with the starters a little bit. So then you just get that belief [from] a player of his caliber, it kind of boosts your confidence."
In his sophomore campaign, Simmons' trade demand netted Maxey a starting point guard job. He made waves. Simmons was traded for James Harden, allowing Maxey to slide into his optimal role as a hyper-efficient combo guard. Maxey learned many of the tricks of the trade playing alongside Harden, one of the most prolific offensive guards in league history, that have benefitted him in the seasons since Harden's own trade demand forced Maxey back into the point guard spot. By Maxey's fourth year, he was an All-Star and won the NBA Most Improved Player Award. He certified himself as an elite three-point shooter, far and away the most significant example of his tremendous development. Before his latest jump this season, he announced himself as an unstoppable scorer as he authored a signature playoff performance at Madison Square Garden.
Embiid saw Maxey as not just the sidekick he needed on the court – and the two have an offensive rapport that rivals any in the league – but also the voice his team needed off the court. Embiid is generally muted, and that does not make him cut out to be the vocal leader of a team in the traditional fashion. Embiid began emphatically encouraging a player nearly seven years younger than him to take over as the team's loudest leader.
Could Green tell in Maxey's first two seasons that he would one day grow into the unquestioned leader of an NBA franchise? He began to answer the question before it could even be completed.
"A leader? Absolutely. I think he learned a lot from the guys that were in that locker room," Green said. "And I think Tobias [Harris] was a good person for him to lean on. Georges Niang and myself were there... But he ultimately had it in him already. He was one of those kids. He's a natural leader, star point guard, and he's been playing his whole life."
Maxey acknowledged his history of leading teams before getting to the NBA. But at this level, players as good as Embiid can dictate whether or not they want to be at the center of the team's leadership structure. Maxey needed the stamp from him.
"I think it definitely helps me having Joel Embiid, somebody like that, of that talent and that caliber of player – again, he has that confidence in you, he sees the leadership that you bring to the table, and he wants you to show that," Maxey said. "I've led at every level. I had to kind of learn here and try to figure it out, and I had to go through some obstacles. But I feel like I’ve gotten to the point where now I am at that point where I can lead and talk, and my voice is a little bit powerful."
Maxey said he did not feel like he had completely "figured out" how to be the best leader he could be until the middle of the Sixers' nightmarish 2024-25 season. Green pointed to Maxey reportedly calling out Embiid for being late to team activities in a heated meeting that season as an example of the respect he has been able to command. But Maxey lit up when given a chance to describe his leadership style, because it largely relies on the upbeat persona he carried into his very first training camp.
"I think the biggest thing that I do is I try to build relationships with [all of] my teammates," Maxey said. "Like, personal relationships. Know them on a personal level. When you do that, you kind of make jokes with them, I have certain laughs with them. That gives me the opportunity when I get on the court, if something happens, I can get on them. Maybe not always in a yelling way, but like a friendly way. ‘Hey man, don't do that.’ I have that type of leadership style."
Maxey does not merely command respect as a leader because he is a nice guy. He is a maniacal competitor and worker whose obsessive training habits are now well-documented. Mathias called him "one of the hardest workers I've ever been around," adding "you could tell he was going to be a superstar in this league just by his work ethic and his skill." Mathias only spent about two months playing with Maxey during their rookie season.
The constant work to get better is reflected in Maxey's continued jumps on both ends of the floor, and it is a key part of Maxey's aim to set the standard for the Sixers. He believes his work ethic gives him the credibility he needs to hold others accountable.
"I mean, you've got to respect it. That's what it is at the end of the day," Maxey said. "You've got to respect how hard I work, and then you follow that. You see somebody that works that hard, you see someone that really cares about winning, you've just got to follow that same path and you've got to respect it. You see that person working that hard, you've got to follow it and make sure that you're doing the same thing."
It was only a matter of time before the masses saw what the Sixers were seeing in their own gym. And that game against Denver was the first public glimpse of Maxey's potential NBA stardom.
"I mean, it's crazy. It really could have just started with that one game of him doing what he's doing right now, which is crazy," Bradley said. "He's special, man. I knew he was going to be good, but I mean, I didn't think he was going to be like this. He's really good."
Meanwhile, Green said he did think Maxey was going to be like this.
"I can believe it. He just needed the opportunity," Green said. "But it’s a very proud, impressive thing to see. A young kid that has gotten an opportunity to come a long way. Now, he's the face of the franchise. And he pretty much is going to be the franchise moving forward. So I'm just glad that I was able to be a part of that process, or just see it from up close early on, and hopefully give him some gems and tools along the way to help him get there. But there's nothing that he's doing right now that surprises me. From day one, he’s always been a worker, and he’s always been able to do a lot of those things that he’s doing now."
So, as Maxey retold the famous story of Embiid's 40-point prediction once again on Monday, he chuckled as he remembered just how unusual that day was. But for Maxey, the game five years ago was the first true launching point of his NBA career. It kickstarted his growth from a rookie with a wide smile to a leader and face of a franchise.
And a lot has changed since then. Ironically, Maxey scoring 40 points has become easy to fathom. He is averaging well over 30 points per game in 2025-26 and has 14 separate 40-point outbursts to his name, including his playoff masterclass that saved the Sixers' season for one more game:
Maxey finished his first contract on the league's rookie scale and inked a five-year max contract worth over $200 million. His aforementioned three-point shooting development completely changed his trajectory and shot diet. He traded many of the floaters he took against the Nuggets five years ago for ridiculous rim finishes and dazzling pull-up triples. Maxey even changed his hairstyle so that his hair would no longer bounce off his face on drives.
But the wide smile persists.
Green noticed early on that Rivers and his staff were getting on Maxey hard. Stories floated around about how Rivers developed Rajon Rondo into a star floor general with the same harsh instruction. But he wanted to make sure Maxey did not lose his authentic self amid incredibly tough coaching.
"Doc was on him," Green said. "And he was always positive, he always was happy and smiley. I always said to him, ‘Don't let the city take your sunshine from you,’ because Philly's one of those places that it could get dark for you quick if you let it. And if you're not in the rotation, if you're not playing and the coaching staff is on you, it could get bad. Him being able to mentally stay locked in and also take the constructive criticism from coaching staff, the day-to-day of them being on him pretty rough, I don't think there's many kids that were able to handle that. A lot of guys would be broken, or they would break from that type of treatment."
It is one of the many ways Maxey's rookie season, in which his minutes and role constantly fluctuated, was hard on him. He had been a superstar and a winner at every level within his young basketball life. This was new. Maxey has become open about the ensuing struggles. But he said he has recently developed an appreciation for what it taught him.
“[It was] difficult, but we were winning and I was learning," Maxey said. "Every single day, I was learning a lot, man. I was learning from everybody. And that's what I appreciated. When I got back on the court, I appreciated being on the court. I appreciated the little things: picking up full court, making the extra pass, knowing the gameplan, all those things... I think it was big for my trajectory, because it helped me really respect the game even more than I already respected it.”
But five years later, Maxey does not think he would be where he is now if not for that experience. He credits not just Rivers, but also Embiid, Harris, Harden, current mentor Kyle Lowry and many others for keeping him grounded.
After all, look at where Maxey's sunshine got him.
"I'm just blessed to be here, man," Maxey said. "It's just a blessing to be here. I'm so happy to be blessed to be on the Sixers and blessed to play basketball every single day and try to help my team and lead us to wins. Man, that's really all I'm here for."
