When a young player lands on the Philadelphia 76ers, one of the wisest things they can do is get in the lab with the veteran All-Star, Tyrese Maxey. Labaron Philon Jr. is taking the right approach.
Since Maxey has been in the NBA, the young guard has established himself as one of the hardest workers the team has seen in a long time. While Maxey didn’t earn a steady role off the rip, he was a full-time starter by year two. It wouldn’t be long before Maxey became an All-Star in the NBA.
Maxey knows what it takes to be a late first-round pick who can make an impact on a championship-hopeful team. Philon Jr. is learning the ropes right away, it seems.
The right approach
Since his pre-NBA days, Maxey has been in the lab with personal trainer Chris Johnson. While Johnson doesn’t exclusively work with Klutch Sports clients, he’s always been in Maxey’s corner. Johnson was recently working closely with Maxey, LeBron James, and Jaylen Brown before getting VJ Edgecombe and Philon in the gym.
While Philon likely did a little bit of everything during those workouts, snippets have suggested there was an emphasis on ball-handling. That’s where Philon could earn his rookie role.
Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, & Labaron Philon working on their handles 👀🔥
— RB (@RBPhillyTake) September 3, 2026
(📸: chrisjohnsonhoops / IG) pic.twitter.com/7ALkJ9hcjj
The Sixers have good guard depth heading into the 2026-2027 NBA season, but they lack pure point guards. Anfernee Simons and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope will be the first vets off the bench from the backcourt, but Philon is viewed as an option to be a deep rotation player early on. Ball-handling is what’s going to make-or-break his chance early on.
The 20-year-old guard out of Alabama just wrapped up a two-year run in the NBA. As a freshman, Philon averaged 10.6 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 3.8 assists, while shooting 45.2% from the field and 31.5% from three.
When he returned to Alabama for his sophomore season, Philon shot 50.1% from the field and 39.9% from three to produce 22.0 points per game. He also dished out 5.0 assists per game, along with coming down with 3.5 rebounds per game.
It’s still early, but Philon is taking the right approach to his rookie season so far. Getting to work with Maxey and Edgecombe, who just had an impactful rookie season with the Sixers, will allow Philon to work on chemistry with his new vets, along with learning all of the valuable information he needs to know about winning a spot in the rotation right away.
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