Doc Rivers’ Tyrese Maxey Injury Update Following 76ers Practice
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The Philadelphia 76ers have two days off between their Tuesday night victory over the Sacramento Kings and their Friday night matchup against the Golden State Warriors.
After getting Wednesday off, the Sixers returned to the practice court on Thursday. Earlier this week, Sixers head coach Doc Rivers mentioned he hoped to “slip” the young veteran Tyrese Maxey into one of their practices this week.
“So far, it hasn’t been a big week,” Rivers said on Tuesday. “He is shooting — I will say that. He’s… I don’t want to call it sprinting, but he’s running. It’s definitely not a sprint yet. We’re hoping maybe by the end of the week we can slip him in one of these practices, but right now, it’s probably not trending to that.”
Unfortunately, Rivers was right. Maxey did not trend in a positive direction towards returning to practice and was not a participant in Thursday’s session. In fact, it seems he wasn’t close.
“He’s nowhere near where we thought,” said Rivers. “Whatever he has to do, he’s nowhere near it.”
When Maxey initially went down with a small fracture last month, reports speculated that he could be back on the floor within three-to-four weeks. Friday’s game against the Warriors marks four weeks since Maxey appeared in a game.
A recent report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski speculated that Maxey could be back on the floor before the Sixers’ Christmas Day matchup against the New York Knicks.
Rivers couldn’t confirm nor deny the rumored timeline for Maxey’s return, but he took a guess at how long Maxey might remain off the court.
“I would say he’s out at least a couple more weeks,” Rivers continued. “I’m making that up, but I can’t imagine him playing anytime in the next couple of weeks. He can shoot, he can run a straight line, but that’s it. We’re just going to be patient. He can sprint straight, he just can’t cut or stop. He may get better in three days, five or six days, but I don’t see that happening, is what I’m saying. This is an uneducated guess, but I just can’t imagine him playing anytime soon.”
The Sixers return to the court on Friday to face the Warriors. Considering Maxey hasn’t returned to practice yet, it’s safe to assume the rising star guard will miss his 13th straight game. As for the following three matchups, it’s too early to make a call.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.
