Tyrese Maxey Addresses Supposed ‘Confrontation’ With PJ Tucker

Tyrese Maxey explains his on-court conversation with PJ Tucker against the Celtics.

Before the Philadelphia 76ers went back to the visitor’s locker room for halftime on Tuesday night in Boston, veteran forward PJ Tucker and third-year guard Tyrese Maxey had an on-court conversation that stood out to those in attendance.

The discussion was described as a “spat,” according to Sixers Wire’s Ky Carlin. Although it didn’t blow up into anything bigger than it was, Tucker himself confirmed that the two exchanged words to straighten out a mistake made on the court. 

“This is what I love about right now in the season. Win, lose, or draw, you’re gonna win some, you’re gonna lose some, nobody’s winning 82 games, it doesn’t define your season, we’re gonna argue. I’m cool with that. We argue, figure it out, move on, cool, next play. Let’s go. We’ll figure it out, we’re gonna do it again, that’s it.”

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“We’re gonna have growing pains,” Tucker added. “Win some, lose some, but in the end, it’s about getting better, building up to be a team that’s standing at the end of the season.”

The Sixers’ growing pains were on full display Tuesday night. With a slightly tweaked starting lineup that includes Tucker as the new member, and a reasonably new bench unit, the Sixers struggled against the Celtics as they fell short 126-117.

Fortunately, they have plenty of time to figure it out. And Tuesday’s “spat” between Tucker and Maxey was just one form of them working through their struggles.

“Everything is kind of new to us because PJ’s been on a lot of different teams, so the calls are different,” Maxey explained. “At the time, I was asking him because the call that we used last year is different than the call he’s used in the past. So, the call I was listening and waiting for, he didn’t say it, he said something else. He kind of just explained to me to be ready and be into the ball, and we know on contact we switch. It wasn’t a confrontation, just a quick conversation between two competitive guys.”

Being that he’s the Sixer with seniority over Tucker since he’s been on the team since 2020, Maxey was the one making corrections on Tuesday night. However, the young guard isn’t looking to take anybody’s leading position, as he wants to continue learning all he can from a champion like Tucker.

“I really do appreciate him because he won a championship,” Maxey finished. “He won one and knows what it takes to get there. I just go out there, try to listen, and soak it all in.”

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.