1 stat that highlights Tiese Makeia’s MVP case

ByNBAUSA



After spending the 2024-25 NBA season as the captain of a sinking ship, Tyrese Maxey has returned to the Philadelphia 76ers on a mission to prove he can be the best option on a championship-caliber team.

Taking the court with a few new faces like longtime friend Trendon Watford, third overall pick VJ Edgecombe, and finally Joel Embiid and Paul George, McKay dazzled in the opener with 40 carries and hasn’t looked back since. A quarter of the way through the 2025-26 NBA season. Maxi has scored 20 or more points in all 20 games so farand topped the 30-point mark in 11, including a career-high 54 in an overtime win over the Milwaukee Bucks.

That level of production understandably has some fans pounding the table for McKay to be in the running for MVP, a narrative that still hasn’t quite taken hold, but has the stats to back it up.

Through 20 games, Maxi ranks up first in minutes playedfirst in shots per game and third in points per game, trailing only Luka Doncic and Shay Giljus-Alexander. Maxi ranks seventh in the Association in assists per game with 7.6, averages a steal and a half a game and is dangerously close to the 50/40/90 club with a 46.8/38.4/87.7 shot split in mass production.

And most importantly of all, Maxi is responsible for the highest share of his team’s points of any player in the Association at 27.3 percent, ahead of elite players such as SGA, Jaylen Brown and Luka Doncic, according to NBA on NBC.

Of course, unlike Gilgeous-Alexander, Doncic and company, there are games where Maxey has to score more than a quarter of the 76ers’ points out of necessity because he’s had to play games without Embiid, George and/or Edgecomb more often than not. When the 76ers are at full strength, they can play a more dynamic game where Nick Nurse’s team can chase open shots instead of No. 0 playing hero ball. And yet, so far this season, the hero’s ball hasn’t fared badly with Maxie at the helm. Help him out, make a move or two at the trade deadline, and the 76ers could be good enough to properly showcase their new franchise player as he pushes for MVP consideration.





2025-12-03 04:14:00

Similar Posts