Rivers says Maxey is ‘close...he’s making great progress,’ and talks about the guard’s unique character

Don’t expect to see Tyrese Maxey on Christmas Day vs. the New York Knicks. But if you were worried you wouldn’t see the Sixers’ electrifying combo guard anytime soon, there’s hope. Prior to tip vs. the Los Angeles Clippers, Doc Rivers gave one of his most optimistic updates to date.

First Rivers was asked if Maxey would suit up on Christmas, since ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski mentioned not terribly long ago, that was still a possibility.

“I don’t have a lot of confidence in that,” Doc Rivers admitted to reporters. “But he’s close, I can tell you that. He’s making great progress and had a great workout yesterday. So he’s close.”

Is there a scenario where he could come off the bench upon return?

“Yeah, I see all scenarios with our guys,” Rivers continued. “When he comes back we’re not gonna throw him right in, regardless. Just, he’s been out a long time and it’s a foot injury so it’s not like conditioning. But we’re open to everything.”

Doc was also asked about Maxey winning the “NBA Community Assist Award” for November. It was pointed out that Tyrese was out volunteering just a couple days after learning he’d broken his foot, helping his community.

“It’s just who he is, he’s the happiest human being i’ve ever been around,” Rivers gushed. “Really, he didn’t have a bad day. I mean he’s a day away or two days away from what happened [last year] I think it was on Christmas Eve, his house burns down. And we get on the train to go to Washington and he’s on the train. And you’re like ‘what the hell are you doing here?’ And he’s like ‘I wanna play basketball, it’s what I do.’ And if you didn’t know [what he was going through] you wouldn’t have known. That’s an art. Everyone should have that, if they can get it, because it’s an uplifter for everybody around him.”

If you didn’t have enough reason to love Maxey, well there you go.

We just hope he gets well soon. That he had a great workout without setback just may be the best Sixers news of the week.