Sixers second-year guard Tyrese Maxey is showing more and more of his skills with each game. If nothing else, he is showing zero fear when it comes to taking on opponents this season.
But is “zero fear” the reason for his choice of jersey number? Not quite.
Maxey sat down for NBA cameras to explain himself in advance of NBA Jersey Day – which is apparently a thing – on December 14th.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Philadelphia sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
His first selection was taken. He has worn three at every level, but that number is retired by the Sixers in honor of Allen Iverson. But he had an interesting explanation why he went with zero.
“Zero has kind of grown on me. I remember in my first couple days here, Coach Doc [Rivers] made a statement… ‘At the end of the year, you can have all the excuses in the world of why we didn’t win, or we could have zero excuses.’ So, I think the ‘Zero Excuses’ thing has kind of trickled onto my life, as far as zero excuses to get in the gym, zero excuses to get better, zero excuses to come in with a positive energy every single day.”
Often, choosing zero as a jersey number is somewhat of a “Look at me” number. Players don’t wear zero to blend in, they wear it because it stands out. Some of the biggest stars in the game wear zero: Damian Lillard, Russell Westbrook, Jayson Tatum.
NBA
While Maxey isn’t in that echelon just yet, if he continues to live out the reason he wears zero, he could get there sooner than later.