CAMDEN, N.J. — The Philadelphia 76ers had a tough 2024-25 season as injuries decimated the roster. Expected to contend for a championship following a busy offseason, the Sixers were unable to get off the ground as the Big 3 of Joel Embiid, Paul George, and Tyrese Maxey only played 18 games–finishing 15 of them. The Sixers went 7-8 in those games.

That meant lots and lots of losses. The Sixers finished 24-58 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2017. It was not a season anybody expected in Philadelphia and that can take a toll on everybody. Especially, for a guy like Tyrese Maxey who experienced losing for the first time in his career.

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Maxey opened up plenty about his mental health in the previous season, about how tough everything was for him. The Sixers were unable to get it together, but as he moves forward, he has a better idea of how to handle his mental and to help himself move forward.

“I learned a lot,” Maxey explained. “I changed a lot. I feel like the biggest thing I’ve done, just personally for myself, is I’ve started really focusing on mental health. Like I said, I’ve never lost in my career, so it was good for me to go through that and also become a better leader. Lead the young guys, lead the team, and just kind of keep everybody positive.”

Maxey stepped up in the offseason and gathered the youngsters together for some offseason workouts. Along with the work the Sixers put in over the summer, they are also banking on everybody being healthy. This is a talented roster that can contend for a title. They know it. They just need a clean bill of health for once.

Winning cures everything and that should help Maxey and everybody else on the roster. However, should things go haywire? Maxey has a better way of handling everything after the experience of the previous season.

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“This year, we definitely plan on being better, and we’ve been working our tails off to be better,” he finished. “I think for me, it’s gotten me to a point where I journal a little bit more, I read a little bit more. I’ve done some different things this summer to keep my mental health and keep my spirits in the correct place. My spirits have to be high for this team and for my game as well. So I think that’s what I’ll make sure I do this year, and we’ll be better.”

This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Sixers’ Tyrese Maxey discusses handling mental health in a better way