The NBA announced on Tuesday that Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey is the winner of the Most Improved Player of the Year award this season.
The 25-year-old guard beat out the likes of Chicago Bulls’ Coby White and Houston Rockets’ center Alperen Sengun, since he had 51 first-place votes, 18 second-place votes, and 10 third-place votes, for a total of 319 points.
“I’ve always been a guy that preaches work,” Maxey said on his appearance on NBA TV. “Every single day, every single summer, I strive to be the best possible version of myself. For me to win this award is a testimony to the work that I put in.”
Tyrese Maxey earned the award after a breakthrough year with the Philadelphia 76ers, averaging career-highs in points (25.9), rebounds (3.7), assists (6.2), steals (1.0), and three-pointers made (212). He also earned an All-Star selection for the first time in his career after becoming the team’s full-time point guard when James Harden was moved to the LA Clippers.
Tyrese Maxey needs to lead the Philadelphia 76ers back in the series against the New York Knicks
The Philadelphia 76ers are down 0-2 against the New York Knicks, following some late heroics by Donte DiVincenzo in Game 2.
The 23-year-old guard is averaging 34.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 7.0 assists per game so far in this series, but he and Joel Embiid will need help from the likes of Tobias Harris, Kelly Oubre Jr., and Kyle Lowry for them to be able to extend the best-of-seven series, starting in Game 3 at home on Thursday.
The good news for the Philadelphia 76ers is that, despite being down by two games, they have never lost confidence, at least according to Joel Embiid.
“We’re going to win this series,” Embiid said. “We’re going to win this. We know what we have to fix. We did a better job today, so we’re going to fix it. We’re the better team, so we’re going to keep fighting.”
