Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey was named the 2023-24 Kia NBA Most Improved Player, receiving the George Mikan Trophy, according to an announcement from the NBA Communications official Twitter:
The fourth-year guard set career-highs across the board this season, averaging 25.9 points, 3.7 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.5 blocks per game while shooting 45.0% from the field, 37.3% from three-point range and 86.8% from the free-throw line. Maxey was named an All-Star for the first time in his career and led Philadelphia for much of the season as Joel Embiid missed 43 games.
He becomes the second 76ers player to win the award since its inception in 1985-86, joining guard Dana Barros, who took home the award in 1994-95. Maxey finished the season ranked 11th in points per game, 17th in three-pointers made and 20th in assists per game. He narrowly edged out Chicago Bulls guard Coby White for the award.
Check out the full voting results for the 2023-24 Kia NBA Most Improved Player below:
NBA Last Two Minutes Report confirms Tyrese Maxey was fouled twice
The NBA released their Last Two Minutes Report on Tuesday, confirming that Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey was fouled twice during the chaotic sequence near the end of their Game 2 104-101 Game 2 loss to the New York Knicks. The official report claims both Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart fouled the All-Star guard, stating:
Brunson (NYK) pulls Maxey’s (PHI) jersey away from his body, which affects Maxey’s ability to secure the pass.
Hart (NYK) steps forward into Maxey’s (PHI) space and initiates lower body contact that causes Maxey to lose his balance and fall to the floor.
While the league’s report confirms that Maxey was fouled twice, he took responsibility for the turnover during an appearance on Inside the NBA to accept the award, stating:
I gotta be stronger with the ball. When I get on the floor, I gotta be able to just hug it and call a timeout, but it is what it is. It happened. You gotta let it go. You can’t dwell on it now. If we dwell on it, in a couple days we’ll be down 0-3 and we don’t wanna be down 0-3. We know that we can still win this series. We gotta go out there and prove that.
While the league confirmed Maxey was fouled, he appears ready to move on from the play. The 76ers will have to win four of the next five games to keep their season alive and advance to the second round. The two teams will be back in action on Thursday.
