Tyrese Maxey Responds to 76ers Fans’ Warm Welcome Back

Tyrese Maxey is grateful for his "Welcome Back" moment in South Philly.

Prior to Monday night’s matchup between the Philadelphia 76ers and the New Orleans Pelicans, Tyrese Maxey hadn’t appeared on the court since November 18, when the Sixers battled against the Milwaukee Bucks for the second time.

After checking out with a lower-body injury 20 minutes into the matchup, Maxey wrapped up his 24-point outing prematurely. When the Sixers returned for the second half, the third-year guard was ruled out for the remainder of the matchup.

The following day, Maxey was diagnosed with a foot fracture. As a result, the young guard missed the Sixers’ next 18 games. Although he was anticipated to return within three to four weeks, Maxey didn’t get back out onto the floor until the Sixers’ December 30 matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans.

Maxey checked in for 18 minutes, draining four of his ten shots in his first set of action since suffering the injury. He finished the game with nine points off the bench.

When the Sixers paid a visit to the Oklahoma City Thunder the following night, Maxey got some rest as the Sixers cruised past their opponent for a 19-point win.

Two nights later, the Sixers returned to the Wells Fargo Center to host the Pelicans for a rematch. Maxey, who was cleared to come off the bench, would compete in front of the Sixers’ fan base for the first time since late November. To no surprise, the young guard received a warm welcome back out onto the floor when he checked in during the first quarter.

🫶 https://t.co/9HPzCzdbO7 pic.twitter.com/qQiku18SGP

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) January 3, 2023

Before even getting announced, a majority of the crowd stood up to give the third-year star an ovation. The cheers grew louder as Maxey was introduced to enter the game. After the matchup, Maxey responded to the reception during his postgame press conference.

“It was great,” said Maxey. “I was telling (Lauren) Rosen that I just really appreciate the fans, and you know they gave me an extra boost. The boost doesn’t help the ball go through the net, but the boost does help your energy, and you’re flying around to help your teammates try to get some stops and different things like that.”

Maxey hasn’t mirrored his early-season production since returning to the floor, but he was more active, playing roughly seven more minutes on Monday. As the young guard works on getting confident once again, the home crowd helped issue a boost, which Maxey was grateful for after the outing.

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