Despite a career-high scoring average, Philadelphia’s rising star fell just short of the Second Team. Discover why team success ultimately swayed the voters.
Tyrese Maxey had every right to be proud of his first All-NBA selection.
He also had a real case to land higher than the Third Team. But there is a difference between having a strong argument and being robbed.
Maxey was named to the 2025-26 All-NBA Third Team after the best season of his career, joining Jamal Murray, Jalen Johnson, Chet Holmgren, and Jalen Duren. He averaged 28.3 points, 6.6 assists, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.9 steals while shooting 46.2 percent from the field, 36.7 percent from three, and 89.2 percent from the free-throw line. He also led the league in minutes played and became the first Sixers player to earn All-NBA honors since Joel Embiid in 2023.
Those are elite numbers. In a vacuum, they compare well with Jalen Brunson and Donovan Mitchell, the two guards who landed on the Second Team. Brunson averaged 26.0 points and 6.8 assists for New York, while Mitchell averaged 27.9 points and 5.7 assists for Cleveland. Maxey scored more than Brunson, assisted at a similar level, and carried a heavier offensive burden for stretches because of Philadelphia’s injuries.
But All-NBA voting isn’t simply based on individual success.
The biggest difference was team success. The Sixers finished 45-37 and entered the postseason as the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference. Brunson helped lead the Knicks to 53 wins and a top-three seed, while Mitchell’s Cavaliers won 52 games. When the statistical gap is close, voters almost always lean toward the players whose teams were better over 82 games.
The voting also shows Maxey was not ignored. He received 36 Second Team votes and 60 Third Team votes from the 100-person media panel, meaning voters clearly viewed him as being in the Second Team conversation.
First Team was even harder to crack. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic were unanimous selections, Victor Wembanyama missed unanimous status by one vote, Luka Dončić led the league in scoring at 33.5 points per game, and Cade Cunningham averaged 23.9 points and 9.9 assists while leading Detroit to the East’s best record. There was no player that Maxey was even close to jumping over.
A Third Team selection feels fair, even if Second Team was within reach. Maxey’s season was phenomenal. He became a true offensive engine, carried Philadelphia through injuries, and established himself as the bridge between the Sixers’ present and future. But Brunson and Mitchell had similar production with team performances, and the First Team was loaded.
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Wes Dixon is a contributing writer to 76ersRoundtable. He can be reached at [email protected].
