Kentucky's John Calipari Excited for Tyrese Maxey's Latest Achievement

When the Philadelphia 76ers were on the board with the 21st overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, they had to make an obvious selection. As University of Kentucky

When the Philadelphia 76ers were on the board with the 21st overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, they had to make an obvious selection. As University of Kentucky prospect, Tyrese Maxey, was shockingly still on the board, the Sixers called on the young guard to make him their newest addition.

While Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari was happy to see another one of his former players get selected in the pros, he first sounded off on the teams that passed on Maxey as he was initially expected to be a lottery selection.

“I thought he should have gone earlier," Calipari said. "Let me just tell you; there’s a lot of people who are going to regret that they passed. There are about eight positions that they’re going to look back a few years from now and say, ‘Look where he went and where he could have gone.’”

It's unclear how much the teams who passed up on Maxey feel about not taking him, but the Sixers are surely thrilled about the progress of the now-second-year guard.

Last year, Maxey didn't get a ton of playing time as he was behind a three-time All-Star point guard in Ben Simmons. In addition, Maxey was battling for minutes with the veteran guard Shake Milton and eventually George Hill.

In 61 games, Maxey averaged eight points as a rookie. He drained 46-percent of his field goals and hit on 30-percent of his threes. During the postseason, the rookie appeared in 12 games. He averaged six points in 13 minutes in the playoffs.

While Maxey wasn't making any case to win Rookie of the Year last season, he's shown a lot of improvement in year two as more opportunities came his way. With Hill out of the picture, and Simmons off the court, Maxey has earned the starting point guard position for the Sixers this year.

Through the first 43 games of the year, Maxey's doubled his production as he averages 16 points per game while shooting 47-percent from the field and 40-percent from three. With his year two improvement, Maxey earned a spot in the NBA's Rising Stars Challenge in the Sophomore player pool. After the announcement, John Calipari had an "I told you so" moment on Twitter.

Philly, I told you that you were going to love @TyreseMaxey! And this is only the beginning for him!

Proud of you, kid!! https://t.co/Vwx63Qxqq4

— John Calipari (@CoachCalArk) February 2, 2022

On Tuesday night, Maxey became the 18th Sixers player in history to be named to the Rising Stars Challenge. He's the first prospect to earn the nod since Ben Simmons played during the 2018-2019 season.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.