PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsardio) — The sun was out on President’s Day, not a cloud in sight above Seger Park on the 1100 block of Lombard Street. With midday temperatures in the 40s and time to kill on a day off from school, four teenagers hit one of Seger’s recently resurfaced basketball courts for a game of pick-up.
Eric, a ninth-grader from Chinatown, sported fresh swag: a navy 76ers City Edition jersey, new for this season, with design elements borrowed from Reading Terminal Market’s iconic neon signage.
Eric’s player of choice is No. 0, Tyrese Maxey.
“I got it for Christmas,” he said.
It was the top item on his list.
“I think he’s a really good player, a nice rising star. He’s probably one of my favorite young players in the NBA.”
A few weeks earlier, when the Sixers hosted the Golden State Warriors, first cousins Cali and Braylon watched the game from a corner section of the lower bowl at Wells Fargo Center.
Both sported blue No. 0 Sixers shirseys, repping their favorite player.
“His number zero means ‘zero excuses,’” said Cali, referring to the origin story Maxey tells.
Maxey struggled against the Warriors, as he worked through his first shooting slump of the season, but Cali and Braylon didn’t care. They cheered, jumped and waved throughout the game, doing whatever they could to catch Maxey’s attention.
“He works hard,” Braylon said. “He’s the type of person who doesn’t give up.”
Like Sixers fans from all demographics, these youngsters are swept up in Maxey mania, and for good reason.
The 24-year-old point guard, who last weekend made his NBA All-Star Game debut, turned heads during the unofficial first half of the season.
His 25.7 points per game rank second on the Sixers, a big jump from the 20.3 points he averaged last season. His 149 3-pointers not only top the team but represent the 13th-highest total in the league.
Even more telling, Maxey’s per 36-minute scoring rate, which accounts for scoring with the playing time variable normalized, has increased by more than 3.0 this year.
Maxey’s ascent into mainstream NBA stardom certainly has a lot to do with his nifty, well-rounded offensive skill set, but his development between the lines only tells part of the story.
In the latest data released by the NBA at the end of January, Maxey boasted the ninth-best selling jersey in the whole league, topping MVP teammate Joel Embiid, reigning NBA champion and former two-time MVP Nikola Jokić, and perennial All-Star Damian Lillard (who, by the way, joined a new team this year).
There’s much more to Maxey’s popularity than performance. His personality is also part of the package.
“Tyrese has a huge smile,” said Nancy, an Ambler resident shopping at Shibe Vintage Sports in Center City.
She had just pulled a couple of limited-edition, Maxey-inspired “Mad Max” t-shirts off the rack to send to family friends in Florida.
“He carries an energy for the team, not just with his [game], but the energy he brings to the team. You can feel it.”
Over the last 10 years, Shibe has built its business on selling throwback and original Philadelphia sports merchandise.
At the moment, Maxey is the only active player from any of the city’s pro teams whose likeness appears on Shibe apparel.
“We very rarely do current players, just because we’re kind of more vintage and like to honor the players from the past,” said Darren Nowicki, Shibe’s manager.
For Maxey, there was an exception.
“He’s such a special player,” Nowicki said. “We have him on our team, we’re pretty confident he’s not going anywhere, his play always speaks for itself, he’s always positive.
“We’re just excited about him, like all fans are. We want to honor and celebrate him.”
Shoe company New Balance thought Maxey was good for business, too, signing him to an endorsement deal last year.
Maxey also landed a cover shoot for the latest edition of SLAM Magazine, further cementing his status as an up-and-coming face of the league.
Maxey is set to become a restricted free agent this summer. While his rookie contract pays him the modest salary (by NBA standards) of $4.3 million this season, there’s little doubt he’s part of the Sixers’ long-term plans.
He say he can feel the love and is looking forward to the future.
“I just appreciate everybody,” Maxey told KYW Newsradio before a recent game. “I just try to keep my head down, keep working and grinding, trying to reach my maximum potential and become the best possible version of Tyrese Maxey for this organization and for myself.”