Until the All-Star Game, Nicolas Batum was the Sixers' oldest and most experienced player. The Frenchman has since been overtaken by Kyle Lowry, who will soon turn 38 (March 25) and has played two more seasons. With his experience and his position, he got closer to Tyrese Maxey.
“He’s been on my back since his first day here and I appreciate it”, explains the back. “Our relationship has grown very, very quickly since he’s been here. It's great for me to have someone I can leave the ball to and go and sit in the corner and make the play. I need that from time to time. »
The 23-year-old is currently without injured Joel Embiid, and even though he now has miles on his clock, he is far from having the seniority of the 2019 NBA champion, who played 1,124 regular season games and 130 playoffs.
“Kyle has seen it all in his career”recalls Nick Nurse, who coached the playmaker in Toronto. “I see Kyle talking to him a lot, like, 'When I was at this point in my career.' He's been through all that, so it's kind of the same, right? »
The years have passed and, in the shadow of Kawhi Leonard during the conquest of the 2019 title, we can tend to forget that Kyle Lowry had seasons of more than 20 points per game, being a real and complete threat offensive. His last year with All-Star status, in 2020 – Tyrese Maxey had not arrived in the NBA – he was still averaging 19.4 points per game.
However, when comparing the two players, the Philadelphia guard seems to have an even greater appetite for scoring points.
“Tyrese undoubtedly goes further in a scoring role, perhaps even in that of a star”continues the Sixers coach. “Both follow the same path. Kyle is smart, he knows basketball, he's seen other basketballs and everything he passes on to Tyrese can only help him. »
