Sixth-year guard Tyrese Maxey is untouchable. Maxey has cemented himself among the NBA's elite and finds himself an underdog contender in the early season MVP race. The guard's scoring punch is matched only by his relentlessness and leadership for a team that has been sorely lacking in an on-court example of excellence over the past year. Maxey's value to the 76ers cannot be overstated or matched in the current NBA.
Philadelphia 76ers fans definitely remember the ups and downs of the yearly race for MVP, as Joel Embiid won the award in 2023 and finished as a runner-up in the two preceding seasons. Embiid's three year run of regular season dominance has been outshone by only the best players in NBA history, and MVP awards are not won with playoff success.
While Maxey's early season case is not as obvious as Embiid's was in 2023, in which the big man lit the sport ablaze with his transcendent play across only 66 games. Maxey, instead, has played over 40 minutes a game and started every one of the 76ers first thirteen games of the 2025 season. He leads the league in minutes played, minutes per game and field goal attempts per game. He trails only Luka Doncic in points per game. Maxey's workload rivals names like Iverson, Westbrook, and Harden.
Tyrese Maxey has emerged as a real MVP candidate for the 76ers
Unlike other heliocentric stars of past and present MVP races, Maxey's usage rate, (the rate at which a player dominates the ball in a possession), sits only 22nd around names like Coby White and Victor Wembanyama. This means that Maxey's court impact is often found off ball, continuing the growing trend of shooting gravity started by players like Ray Allen and Steph Curry: winning with fewer, shorter touches.
The favorite to win the award currently across multiple sportsbooks is still 2024 MVP and Finals MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Oddsmakers do not currently see Maxey's impact as more valuable than names like Jokic and Doncic. Cade Cunningham and Giannis Antetokounmpo still lead eastern conference stars ahead of Maxey. But Maxey's odds are comparable to guys like Wembanyama and Edwards heading into All Star voting season.
It's still early yet. The 76ers have only played fifteen percent of their regular season, so Maxey has plenty of time to climb the leaderboards in advanced stats like PER (Player Efficiency Rating), which would greatly bolster his case among likely voters and oddsmakers alike. To do so, players like Paul George and Joel Embiid returning could lighten Maxey's shooting load, allowing The Franchise to play fewer, more efficient minutes in the process.
In that same 2023 season, Maxey won Most Improved Player in his first and only season as an All Star. Last year, despite disappointment following the 76ers like a bad penny, Maxey finished tenth in the new Clutch Player of the Year award. His will to improve and knack for rising to the moment have both provided incalculable value over the past four seasons, years which outside of Maxey could be described as waiting for the other shoe to drop. Maxey seems done waiting. He has a franchise to run.