Sam Cassell dishes on Embiid, Maxey, Harden on Vernon Maxwell’s pod

Personalities don’t come much bigger than Sixers assistant Sam Cassell and his former Rockets teammate and former Sixer Vernon Maxwell.

So, when Cassell hopped on Maxwell’s podcast, “Maxed Out!” on Bovada’s media network, there were plenty of great stories and moments.

Of most interest to Sixers’ fans, Cassell dished on why James Harden is one of the greatest pick-and-roll players in NBA history, why Tyrese Maxey is a bonafide star and the greatness of Joel Embiid.

You might be interested to find out that Cassell pushed head coach Doc Rivers to give Maxey a little more runway as a young player. Rivers asked Cassell what Maxey was “missing in his game” and Cassell’s solution was to get him more run.

“I was like, ‘Doc, let’s get him instead of steady 12 minutes, give him 25 minutes to see what he does.’ And once his confidence started growing and growing and growing ... man, he’d a bad boy.”

Cassell went on to talk about how coachable Maxey and Embiid have been since Rivers took over. He doesn’t think it’s a coincidence that the big fella has enjoyed his most success under this coaching staff.

“Joel Embiid had his best two years under Doc Rivers. It’s for a reason. ... Sometimes you gotta put the pressure on the player. And he takes that pressure, and he takes that coaching. We got a team around him that I think he feels good about.”

Cassell also had plenty of heavy praise for Harden and their working relationship.

“James is an MVP, man. But he’s been awesome for me to work with. He’s been putting in effort. James has been a star for so, so long — a main star for so, so long — and he’s still a star. ... I think we’re gonna figure this thing out, man. He’s awesome. He’s an awesome person, too. ... He wants to win. He’s allowing Doc to coach him.”

There’s plenty of other great nuggets in here, including the experiences from their Houston days. You can check out the whole pod below: