Embiid: Sixers ‘Not Going Anywhere’ Unless Maxey’s Aggressive

Philadelphia 76ers’ six-time All-Star Joel Embiid didn’t hold back when discussing his young veteran teammate, Tyrese Maxey, after Saturday’s loss to the Boston Celtics. The good news is that Maxey has thick skin. He’s proven he can take criticism, especially when it’s coming from Embiid.

When Maxey has a tough game, Embiid lets him know. Typically, the third-year guard takes the criticism in stride and bounces back. Perhaps, Saturday night’s locker room discussion between the two teammates will help Maxey find his way when the Sixers take on the Miami Heat on Monday night.

“After the game, I was talking to him,” said Embiid. “I was like, ‘What can I do to help you?’ We’re just having a conversation, trying to figure it out, which ways I can help him. We had a good conversation.”

Over the last 13 games, Maxey’s come off the bench for the Sixers. While the young guard is confident in his ability to start in the NBA, he’s been tasked with becoming the team’s sixth man as of late. The adjustment has sometimes worked, as Maxey averaged 15 points during that stretch.

However, he’s had some low-scoring outings in those 13 games. In the matchups where Maxey would produce fewer than ten points, the Sixers lost. On Saturday, he shot 4-10 from the field, scoring eight points in the three-point loss to the Celtics.

Sixers head coach Doc Rivers mentioned that Maxey didn’t have the ball in his hands much, which is an issue they have to fix moving forward. As for Embiid, he claims that the young guard needs to be aggressive, no matter what.

“My main thing for him is to just be aggressive,” Embiid continued. “Everybody watches film, and everybody knows what he does best. I was just giving him an example about how I’m sure people watched film on me, and then they probably know what I want to get to. Then again, there’s so many ways, even if they want to take it away, there’s so many ways you can set them up and still be able to get to whatever shots you want or whatever spot on the floor.”

Embiid is confident his young teammate will be just fine, as Saturday’s matchup was simply a tough night against a tough team. While Embiid believes Maxey will bounce back, he made it clear that the young guard is an X-factor for the team.

“He’ll be fine, but I told him, we’re not going anywhere unless he’s aggressive and he just plays freely,” Embiid finished. “So that’s all I want for him is to play freely. Not think about anything. Whether it’s coming off the bench or starting, I just want him to be aggressive and play freely.”

The Sixers return to the court on Monday to take on the Miami Heat.

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

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