Tyrese Maxey’s Workload Is Heavy - And the Sixers Know It
PHILADELPHIA - Tyrese Maxey isn’t just having a breakout year - he’s carrying the Philadelphia 76ers like a veteran star. Now in his sixth NBA season, the 23-year-old guard has taken on a massive role in 2025-26, and the numbers tell the story.
He’s averaging 30.1 points, 6.8 assists, and 4.3 rebounds per game, shooting 47.1% from the field and 39.1% from beyond the arc. That’s elite production, and it’s coming while he’s the focal point of every opponent’s scouting report.
But as great as Maxey has been, the workload is starting to show.
He’s leading the league in minutes at 39.5 per game - and that’s not just a number on a stat sheet. It’s 40-plus minutes of high-octane basketball, night after night.
This past week, Maxey played 40 minutes in a Monday game, followed by 43 on Tuesday. After that second game - a tough loss to the Phoenix Suns - he admitted he was feeling it.
And who could blame him?
Then came Thursday. Another 43-minute outing, this time in an overtime win over the Houston Rockets.
That’s 126 minutes in three nights. For a player who’s already doing everything - scoring, facilitating, defending - it’s a lot to ask.
Head coach Nick Nurse acknowledged the strain Maxey’s under.
“He played a lot of minutes in a back-to-back,” Nurse said. “I would expect him to be tired, but yeah.
We just try to do the best we can. Certainly, on days off, he’s pretty limited on what he’s doing.
Hopefully, we can get to a point where we can cut his minutes down some, right? Try to sneak in a few longer stints of him resting.”
That’s easier said than done, especially with Joel Embiid and Paul George both missing games throughout the season. On those nights, it’s been Maxey’s show - and he’s delivered.
Even when the shots haven’t fallen, his energy and effort have never wavered. That’s the kind of leadership you want from your franchise guard.
But the Sixers know they’re playing the long game. The postseason is where they’ll need Maxey at his absolute best, and that means finding ways to preserve him during the grind of the regular season.
“I really would like him to be super fresh to play the last eight, nine minutes of the game,” Nurse added. “A little bit more fresh than maybe he’s been, but he’s done a lot of work, and he’s carried a big load, and he’s got a lot of games where he’s kind of out there on his own without Paul and Joel as well, and he’s handled that really great.
He had a lot of great looks the other night, he didn’t have a good shooting night. That’s gonna happen once in a while.”
And that’s the thing - Maxey’s rough shooting nights are the exception, not the rule. Over the course of an 82-game season, every player hits a wall here and there.
What separates Maxey is how quickly he bounces back. He’s got the mindset of a star and the motor to match.
Still, as the Sixers push toward the playoffs, his minutes will be something to watch. Nurse and the coaching staff will need to find creative ways to ease the burden - whether that’s leaning more on the bench, staggering rotations, or simply picking spots to give Maxey a breather.
Because if the Sixers want to make a deep run this spring, they’ll need Maxey at full throttle - not running on fumes.