CAMDEN, NJ — Tyrese Maxey (tendon strain) addressed the media Friday, following a Sixers team practice, providing an update on his continued recovery.
Maxey has missed the team’s last 10 games after suffering a tendon strain in his right pinky finger in a collision with teammate Adem Bona in the closing seconds of a 125-116 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on March 7. While his return isn’t quite imminent — he’s expected to be re-evaluated next week — Maxey expressed that he’s ready to return as soon as he’s medically cleared.
“I feel pretty good,” Maxey said. “I just got a new split — I don't know if it was yesterday, a couple days ago. I've been working conditioning-wise, doing all the things that they need me to do.”
As for what exactly has to transpire for him to return, Maxey is listening to the professionals to avoid risking re-injury.
“I think the main thing is just feeling comfortable and kind of listening to the doctors, listening to the people, that's the training staff,” Maxey said. “It's hard sometimes, you know what I'm saying? But they always want what's best for us as players, and just keep listening to them, and whenever they allow me to get back out there and do more and more things, and not keep doing that.”
Maxey stated that one of the biggest things he’s learned in this absence is patience. Suffering the same injury last season, Maxey said his approach has changed after last season’s injury struggles.
“Last year, when I got hurt, I didn't take any time,” Maxey said. “I just said, ‘You know what, forget it.’ I'm just gonna go and just try to keep trying, keep trying, keep trying. This year, I thought we were in a good spot… We're still in playoff and Play-In contention, and it's like we can hold down to the fort, I think. I'm saying we have a team that's really done a good job of just maintaining all season.
“Being able to have this time off and kind of just rehab and do the things that let the pinky get better. It's my shooting hand. That's the main reason, like it was up to me if it was on my left hand, no one really even know I was hurt.”
The next update on Maxey is expected to come early to mid-next week, after the Sixers’ road trip against the Hornets and Heat. While Maxey would be back for Saturday’s game, if he had it his way, the Sixers are able to take their time with his recovery, as they have recently enjoyed the returns of Joel Embiid and Paul George and are now expected to see Kelly Oubre return against the Hornets Saturday night.
If he is able to return at his first availability, Maxey will have seven games that he could potentially play in. Have played in 61 games to this point; he is only four away from being eligible for the NBA’s season awards. As the NBA’s leader in minutes per game, and having played the 13th most minutes in the league despite missing 12 games so far, it would be shameful for him not to be rewarded for his stellar performance this season, in which he’s averaged 29.0 points, 4.1 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 2.0 steals per game.
Update:
Ahead of schedule, Tyrese Maxey was upgraded to questionable ahead of the Sixers' matchup in Charlotte against the Hornets.
Unless otherwise stated, all stats included in this article are via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass, Basketball Reference or Team Rankings. All salary information via Spotrac.
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