It’s summertime in the NBA season and that means everyone taking a turn on everyone else’s podcasts!
This time we have Philadelphia 76ers young star guard Tyrese Maxey sitting down with his new teammate, Paul George, for an episode of his show, Podcast P.
Maxey discussed a wide array of topics with his Sixer teammate, including signing his five-year, $204 million contract (after having to wait an extra year for it), telling PG what to expect of playing alongside Joel Embiid and in front of Philadelphia fans, and more.
The full episode is available below:
Here are some highlights of the two Sixers’ conversation. All quotes are from Maxey.
Maxey’s contract extension
On waiting the extra year to sign the extension
“This going to be my first time really to talk about it so, for me, shoot it was hard, you know? I just I put in a lot of work. When the work shows and the results come, you perform at the highest level as far as just stepping into different roles and doing whatever they ask you to do—you start and you get hurt. You come off the bench, you go back to starting. Play one, play two, do all those different things. You want to reap the benefits, of course, you know what I’m saying? So when it came to me, when the opportunity presented itself, it was hard. You see your peers get paid, you see your peers reap the benefits that they deserve and like you just feel like you failed yourself because all the work that you put in.”
“But you know I understood. I understood where they were coming from and you know I think it worked out in the long run, I feel like, not just for myself but for the team as well now I think I’m sitting here with one of my teammates [Paul George] because of it.”
How it felt to finally sign the extension for $204 million over 5 years
“It’s funny because somebody asked me yesterday, I was walking around in Vegas, like ‘what’d you get yourself’. I ain’t got myself nothing, I’m just happy, you know what I’m saying? I’m just happy like I know I still got to work out and all those things but it’s just a blessing man. I thank God every single day that I’m able to get up and actually go out there and work out and put my best efforts out there so the world can see it. Now I just feel like I have a little bit better platform that I can show the world that I’m working, I can inspire others and do different things like that. But I’m happy man, really just blessed. My parents are happy and you know they’re situated and my family and that makes me happy.”
On Paul George coming to Philadelphia
On Paul George joining the Sixers out of free agency
“Once the year ended and all that stuff happened, I got a call from Big Fella [Joel Embiid] like he went down a free agent list and this was what he wanted to do. I’m like ‘listen man, I’mma ride with you until the wheels fall off. I think it’s a great idea.’”
“The fit is crazy, if you think about it. We got, if not the best player in the world, the best big man in the world in Big Fella, Joel. Then myself a guard, and then a wing. You can’t ask for nothing better than that. In the place where we at and then the city where we at, it just it all, it seemed like the time of our careers, all the right timing. I’m happy, man. I’m happy and I’m ready to see what it’s going to look like. Of course, you got to go out there and put the work in and still got to click, do the chemistry and all those different things and fill out the rest of the roster. But, when you look at it, it looks great!”
Explaining Sixers fans to Paul George
“I say this for me, like, I connect with the Philly fans because of how I grew up. I never was given anything, you know what I’m saying? I wasn’t ranked high growing up. I had to go out and work for everything I got. So Philly fans—like the people, the residents there—they just feel very passionate about their teams. They work extremely hard. The people that you see in the stands? They working people. They work for those tickets. So when they come to the game, they just want to make sure it’s like ‘hey, we’re giving it our all.’”
“I think P is a guy who he goes out there and he performs on both ends so they’re going to appreciate that. I can’t wait for him to see like just walking around Philly or being around Philly and fans giving advice and yelling and screaming.”
“They show up though, they there every game. It’s sold out, no matter who we playing. Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday, it don’t matter. They there.”
On what Paul George can expect playing alongside Joel Embiid
“For me, a guy that can create his own shot and do things off the dribble and you don’t have to do those things when Joel’s on the court—you so open sometimes it feels like wrong. P shoots 41% from three. So when he plays with Big Fella and they have to trap, when they have to triple team him, there’s going to be times next year [George] is going to catch the ball and be like, ‘bro, why am I so open?’ It’s not right for him. We are talking about Paul George, a guy that been a superstar in this league for a long time. It’s like the rotation and stuff, you’re so open. [Embiid]’s so dominant, he has to see another body or he’s going to get 70. He’s going to score almost every possession.”
“I think Jo has really grown as a player and as a leader since I’ve been there. Now, he’s so much more vocal, he’s much more involved in the team. He knows guys and that’s a big deal when your best player, your franchise player, is connected. He’s going out there, he’s showing love to his teammates. Now, Joel motivates his teammates in different ways. He tells me I suck when I’m not playing well. ‘You suck right now. I need you to pick it up.’ But that’s good, I need that. We need that and it’s great. You’re gonna love it, man. It’s gonna be crazy.”
“He’ll also say stuff like ‘I’m going to be Dirk today’ and he’ll go out and dominate the game just shooting all fadeaways. Or ‘I’m going to be Shaq today’ and go dominate the game in the post. I remember one time I asked him ‘bro, who are you going to be today?’ before a game and he’s like ‘I’m going to be Joel Embiid’, and that’s when he went out and had the 59-point game. This man’s unbelievable. He’s that good. He’s not just raw talent. He really works on his game, he works on his body, he works on staying healthy. So shoutout to Joel.”
On the Sixers’ other offseason additions and the new roster taking shape
“Caleb Martin coming in is interesting for me because he did a lot of different things, like annoying things, for Miami that was really good. He guards the best players. He’s able to score the ball when he needs to score the ball, he can shoot the ball. Then he’s driving the ball, making plays. He doing all those different things like he’s a really, really, really good utility guy, something that I think we haven’t had. You could put him on like alongside a guy like Kelly [Oubre] who’s doing those different things and can give you like 20 sometimes when we need it so I’m very excited, man.”
“I just feel like we have the right coach, too. He’s going to put different combinations in there. He’s not afraid to try different things, you know what I’m saying? You’re going to see—I know for a fact now, you’re going to see a lot of different things. That’s one thing about Coach [Nick] Nurse, he’s open-minded, man. He tries things and it’s really cool. He’s gonna tell us at the beginning of the year, like ‘listen, I’m going try some things. Some things are going to work, some things aren’t going to work, but we’re going to have a lot in our playoff tool box that we can throw at people’. So I think we have the right coach for that and it should be fun.”
On how last offseason helped him become the NBA’s 2024 Most Improved Player
“My first couple years in the league, I’m just working, you know I’m saying? I’m just working, I’m doing whatever the trainer tell me to do. But that particular summer, and now I feel like I’ll do this for the rest of my career, I kind of had some notes already written down, like ‘I got to get better at X, Y, Z’. This what I want to get better at, this how I want to get stronger, and I knew those things. So because I knew those different things, when I came back to training camp, I had already been working on them so I was confident in doing it. I got to be able to make plays now, I can’t just be out here just trying to score and do different things for myself. I got to be able to break people down to dribble, you know, create for others. I’m thinking for my team more, not just myself.”
“That was my biggest thing, I feel like my mind grew and when my mind grew, my game grew. At that point, I was able to manipulate defense. I know when to score, when not to score, when to do different things like that. Then I knew how to get stronger, I knew what aspects I needed to get stronger, so I think that was my biggest thing from year three to four.”