Maxey has a lot in common with Rondo and they are pals, according to this excerpt from the Philly Inquirer:
Rajon Rondo started 25 games as a Celtics rookie, scored a season-high 23 points twice, shot 41.8% from the field, and made just 20.7% of his 3-pointers for a lousy Boston club. By the end of July of 2007, Danny Ainge had remade Rondo’s rookie team in trades that landed Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to pair with Paul Pierce. Then Doc dropped a bombshell.
“We made the trade for all those guys and I told our staff, ‘We’re starting Rondo.’ And they were like, ‘What?! He can’t shoot! How we gonna win it with a non-shooting point guard?!’ ” Rivers recalled.
His bosses weren’t happy, either. Ainge had been more bullish than Doc on Rondo from the start, but having Rondo run the Big Three was another matter.
“I got a lot of pushback from the front office on that one,” Rivers said.
The Celtics won the title that year.
Rivers sees a lot of Rondo’s work ethic in Maxey, which makes sense. Both are cerebral guards who went to Kentucky, both went 21st overall, and they now work out together in the summertime.
Will there be another similarity?
After all, Rondo, with Allen, Garnett, and Pierce, won a championship with Doc and the Celtics in his second NBA season. Maxey, in his second season, now plays for Doc, with Embiid, Harden, and Tobias Harris — and against a much less formidable cast of opposing teams.
Could Simmons’ holdout be the disguised blessing the Sixers have prayed for since 1983? Will Maxey’s fast development be the catalyst for the 76ers’ first NBA title in nearly four decades? Would Simmons’ presence have stunted Maxey’s growth?