"Nobody tanks like Sixers" - NBA fans react to Tyrese Maxey's season-ending injury 

Tyrese Maxey was the sole bright spot in a season to forget for the Philadelphia 76ers. With a finger tendon injury ruling the guard out for the rest of the season, Sixers fans are now hoping for some luck from the draft gods to get their team back into contention. Fans on X have seen the news of Maxey's injury as the team waving the white flag to cap off a miserable season.

It wasn't long ago that the Sixers, under Sam Hinkie, underwent their "process," which saw the team deliberately tank to secure high draft picks to rebuild. This strategy saw the team draft Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and Markelle Fultz and get back on a path for contention, which was expected to continue in 2024-25 with their new big three of Embiid, Maxey and Paul George.

However, after an injury-plagued season, fans on X said the team is returning to their tanking ways ahead of the 2025 NBA draft headlined by Cooper Flagg. The feelings only intensified after Shams Charania announced on Thursday that Maxey had been shut down for the remainder of the season.

"Nobody tanks like the Sixers!," a fan tweeted.

"When exactly does 'the process' end?," another fan said.

"Hey - at least we're consistent!!," one fan tweeted.

Other fans reacted similarly to the news of Maxey's injury, with DraftKings even bringing up the statistics that underline just how bad the season has been for Philadelphia.

"The Sixers are on pace to win their fewest regular-season games since 2015-16, when they went 10-72," DraftKings Network said.

"Terrible script for the Sixers this year," a fan wrote.

"Sitting out the season for a finger injury… Oh yea they cooked," another fan tweeted.

Maxey played only two games in March before the injury. The Sixers' big three, which was expected to carry them to the top of the Eastern Conference played just 10 games together, summing up one of the most underwhelming seasons in franchise history.

Tyrese Maxey being shut down could help the Sixers retain their pick in the 2025 NBA draft

As fans pointed out in their reactions, the move to shut down Tyrese Maxey, easily the Philadelphia Sixers' most productive player of the season, appears motivated by an intentional tank to ensure that the team secures the only silver lining of a bad season — a lottery pick.

In their attempt to dump off Al Horford's contract in 2020, the Sixers traded their first-round pick with just a top-six protection to the OKC Thunder. While the team currently has a 63.9% chance of securing a top-six pick in the 2025 NBA draft, there still is a good chance that they fall outside the top-six, meaning their pick conveys to the Thunder.

Al Horford stands to be a villain at Philly five years after his trade from the team - Source: Getty

If the Sixers lose their pick to the Thunder, the team shall find itself in a precarious situation with Paul George and Joel Embiid quickly falling into the criterion of untradeable contracts. Maxey, Jared McCain and Quentin Grimes represent some hope for the franchise, but securing a top-six pick remains a priority for the Sixers, who have been forced to tank again.