Doc Rivers Reveals Latest on Tyrese Maxey’s Injury
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When the Philadelphia 76ers returned to their home practice court after being on the road for three-straight games, the third-year guard Tyrese Maxey reunited with his teammates.
Lately, Maxey’s been spending most of his time rehabbing due to a small fracture in his foot, which he suffered during Philadelphia’s November 18 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.
Since getting diagnosed with his injury, Maxey’s missed the last nine games. While the young guard has finally shaken off the walking boot he sported during the first week of his recovery, Maxey still has “a ways to go,” according to his head coach, Doc Rivers.
“It feels like he’s been out longer than he’s been out,” Rivers said after Sixers practice on Wednesday. “I don’t know why it feels longer, but it just feels that way. I thought it was a month, and they said it was two and a half weeks.”
Maxey was spotted in workout gear, standing on the sidelines dribbling a ball while being a vocal presence with his teammates and coaches during the post-practice shootaround session, which involved 76ers' sophomore guard Jaden Springer and the team's assistant coach, Sam Cassell.
While Maxey wasn’t too active during the post-practice period, Rivers revealed that the young guard did make progress recently with his recovery.
“Today, he ran. He’s still not jumping, though, which is a concern,” Rivers explained. “He did not sprint, but he did run up and down the floor. He’s not been able to do that. I guess the only concerning thing is he’s not able to jump yet, so that would mean he’s ways away, to say the least. He started [shooting] two days ago.”
At the moment, Rivers and the Sixers don’t have a timeline for Maxey’s full recovery. When the young guard was initially diagnosed, reports indicated that he could miss up to three-to-four weeks. While Rivers later clarified that his “ways to go statement” in his eyes could mean “two games, three games,” he didn’t have any firm updates on a target date for return.
“If I gave you a two-week thing, I don’t even know what I’m talking about,” Rivers finished. “I just know when you haven’t run and jumped, it makes sense, you know?”
Maxey seems to be moving in the right direction without any setbacks, but his return remains unclear at the moment.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.
