The Athletic: Tyrese Maxey has taken over in Philly: ‘He’s the heart and soul of this team’

PHILADELPHIA — On Monday night, as Tyrese Maxey spent 40 minutes slicing through the Los Angeles Clippers, Philadelphia 76ers forward Paul George sat on the bench taking in the show.

He gave the stank face as Maxey hit a defender with a crossover and stepped back and knocked home a 3-pointer. Then, he looked over and tapped the shoulder of his teammate, point guard Kyle Lowry.

“It was a crazy moment,” George told The Athletic. “I looked at Kyle, and I said, ‘Yo, Tyrese really got better.’”

It’s not easy to impress NBA players, especially NBA players who have been to All-Star Games and have been on All-NBA teams. Yet Maxey seems to be crossing that difficult threshold this season. Listening to George gush about the guard’s growth and improvement, even in a season that’s currently only 14 games in, speaks volumes about how good Maxey has been over the first month. And with every 30-point game, every heroic stretch, it’s clear that Maxey’s play is worthy of such emphatic statements.

The 76ers are Tyrese Maxey’s team. Maxey is making early cases to be an All-Star starter in the East and to make the first All-NBA team of his career.

“He’s special,” George told The Athletic. “I thought he had a phenomenal year last year, but it got lost in the season that we had as a team. Because of that, people didn’t really talk about him heading into this season. But, when you watch him just take over games and get us timely buckets, it’s special to see. We’re asking him to do so much. We’re asking him to play a ton of minutes and he’s delivering.