If you needed another data point showing Tyrese Maxey is on the cusp of stardom (you know, aside from watching him play a game of basketball), check out where the 23-year-old ranks among NBA jersey sales for the first half of the 2023-24 season.
Maxey’s jersey sales being as high as 9th is remarkable when you think about it. Every other player on this list has made an All-NBA team, with just two exceptions: Victor Wembanyama, who was the first overall pick in the 2023 NBA draft and had more hype than any prospect since LeBron James, and LaMelo Ball, who won Rookie of the Year in 2021, made an All-Star team in 2022, and had the Ball Publicity Factory boost his name recognition into the stratosphere.
Popularity only seems slightly ahead of the curve of the on-court results in this instance, though, as Maxey looks poised to join these guys sooner rather than later. He should at least be in the All-NBA conversation at the end of the season, with current averages of 25.7 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 6.6 assists. His scoring puts him 15th in the league, while he is 16th in assists per game, with excellent shooting efficiency and ball security. Maxey also looks likely to make his first All-Star team. While Tyrese Haliburton and Damian Lillard were named All-Star starters this year over him, he finished just behind Haliburton for second in the player vote. We’ll find out if he gets the well-deserved All-Star nod on Thursday night.
You likely also noticed reigning MVP Joel Embiid still going strong at 12th on this list. How cool is it that the Sixers have two players with this much star power on a league-wide scale? With Maxey especially just starting what will hopefully be a long and successful career, I’d like to imagine he could be the defining Sixers player for many a childhood. The accolades will surely continue to pile up, and we’ll see plenty of number-0 Maxey jerseys across the Delaware Valley for years to come.
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