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Philadelphia 76ers star Tyrese Maxey and New Balance officially launched the “Hero Pack,” on Thursday, July 31st. Inspired by his love for superheroes and comic books, Maxey customized the Hesi Low V2's, New Balance's basketball shoe, and the 1906R's, New Balance's lifestyle shoe, with his own design and colorway.
Tyrese Maxey spoke exclusively with ClutchPoints ahead of the launch of the New Balance “Hero Pack,” where he broke down why he decided on a superhero-themed shoe pack.
“I think the inspiration is kind of in the name itself, the ‘Hero Pack,'” the Philadelphia 76ers star told ClutchPoints about his New Balance colorway. “It ties in three of the things that are very important to me. Basketball, shoes, and heroes. I think those things are some things that are very important in my life, on and off the court. Just being a hero on the court and trying to help my team win games. And off the court, just being a hero in the community, trying to be a good influence on kids and people in general and trying to make this world a better place.”
Tyrese Maxey's “Hero Pack” is the first New Balance PE that is available for fans to buy, marking a special moment in the young career of the 76ers' star.
“I think the biggest message that I want fans to take away is from the “Hero Pack” is that it's being the hero on the court and definitely off the court as well,” Maxey explained to ClutchPoints. “I tell people all the time, like every single camp — I do kids camps every single year — I start off the camp by telling them like, ‘hey, today I want y'all to get one percent better, not just in basketball, but in life in general.
“Not all of us are going to be professional athletes or they're not going to all have success on the athletic level. But we need doctors, we need lawyers, we need chefs, we need nutritionists, we need all of that. I think that's the main thing I tell kids. ‘When you get out there, whatever your occupation is going to be, find ways to get one percent better at it.'”
Tyrese Maxey just wrapped up his sixth season in the NBA, where he put up career-highs in what was a forgetful year for the 76ers. In 52 appearances, Maxey averaged 26.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 6.1 assists, and 1.8 steals in 37.7 minutes per game for the 76ers.
Obviously, a lot lies with the health of Joel Embiid, but the Philadelphia 76ers have a chance to make some noise in the Eastern Conference. Health permitting, a team with Embiid, Maxey, Paul George, Jared McCain, and No. 3 overall pick VJ Edgecomb makes for an intriguing contender along with Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks.
The talent alone won't be enough to get it done, says the 76ers' 24-year old guard.
“The biggest thing is we got to get on the court together,” Tyrese Maxey said. “We've got to be healthy and we've got to have continuity. You can't do anything if the guys aren't together. If we aren't together, if we aren't all on the court, if we're not all stepping in the right direction, it's going to be extremely hard. So that's my main goal. That's something that I had to focus on and have to really help build, is the chemistry of the team and help this team step in the right direction. And then after that, then we can worry about how talented we are.”
Here's the full ClutchPoints interview with Philadelphia 76ers and New Balance star guard Tyrese Maxey:
Tomer Azarly: I know that when guys kind of design shoes or colorways, they have little things that mean a lot to them in the colorway or the design. Are there any little hidden meanings or anything like that in the “Hero Pack,” any personal touches in the shoes at all that you've kind of picked out?
Tyrese Maxey: It's a few personal touches. My biggest thing is that I wanted the shoe, the basketball shoe, to look light. I wanted it to look light and fast, like when you're running. I had just watched Moon Knight, so that was something that was kind of on my mind, I guess I could say. And then for me, I'm just a big Marvel fan, so anything that it could tie into. I wore the shoes to the Fantastic Four premiere, and it was amazing. It was a hit. Everybody loved them. That was really cool. I think those are the biggest things that I can kind of think of on top of my head.
Tomer Azarly: Now, there's obviously two colorways, we talked about the Hesi Lows and the 1906Rs. These are the first pair that I believe fans can actually buy of your colorway. What does that kind of mean to you, to have fans be able to buy your colorway, your inspiration behind the colorway in the shoe?
Tyrese Maxey: It's really cool. It's really cool, man. I've gotten a lot of love, a lot of people talking about them and asking, and it's just like, I think the first surreal moment for me was when I was able to provide them for my kids, my AAU team, and they didn't break them in or anything the basketball shoes. They just put them right on, they went out there and started playing, and then I gave the coaches the 1906s, they took off their coaching shoes, put them on, and went right out there. It was just surreal. It was really cool. I'm really blessed, and I appreciate New Balance for helping me out with this.
Tomer Azarly: I didn't know you were a big superhero fan. What was your favorite hero growing up, and why?
Tyrese Maxey: Growing up? Probably Spider-Man. Spider-Man because he's still human, still young, fresh, funny, and he can do heroic things. In Spider-Man, in the MCU, he's doing crazy things as far as fighting Thanos and helping get those guys, but he's also doing the neighborhood stuff as well in the streets, so that's really cool.
Tomer Azarly: So that was growing up, but is there a different hero or character now for you?
Tyrese Maxey: No, I think Spider-Man is still my favorite, honestly. Black Panther is someone who's my favorite. When I tell people this, lot of them get surprised, but I really like Shang-Chi as well. I think he's going to be great, too.
Tomer Azarly: Is there a superhero that fits the way Tyrese Maxey plays, whether it's based on your heart, your speed, your IQ, your hustle, anything like that?
Tyrese Maxey: I think Quicksilver, if anybody knows who that is, he was in Marvel for one, he was in the Age of Ultron, he was somebody because he's fast. I think him, and then Spider-Man. I play with a friendly smile on my face, but I feel like when I get out there, I'm trying to win at all costs, so it's like I'm friendly, but I'm also trying to get the job done.
Tomer Azarly: When you lace up your shoes and you're out there on the court, is there any kind of superpower you feel like you're tapping into on the court?
Tyrese Maxey: I don't think so. I think my main thing is just like, I think the superpower that I tap into is mostly when I'm working out and I'm getting up early in the morning, I'm doing those different things. That's when I'm kind of tapping into that mindset. When I get out there on the court, it's just all free-flowing and happy.
Tomer Azarly: A lot of kids and people in general are going to be rocking this colorway. What's your message that you kind of hope they take away from wearing your shoes and seeing the colorway?
Tyrese Maxey: I think the biggest message that I want them to take away is from the “Hero Pack.” Like I said, it's the hero on the court and definitely off the court. I tell people all the time, every single camp that I do camps every single year, kids camps, and I start off the camp by telling them, ‘hey, today I want y'all to get one percent better, not just in basketball, but in life in general.' ….. The biggest thing I want them to take away is the “Hero Pack” is for on the court and off the court. Like I was saying at the camps I do every year, I want them to get one percent better on the court, but also in life in general. Not all of us are going to be professional athletes, or they're not going to have success on the athletic level, but we need doctors, we need lawyers, we need all those chips, we need nutritionists, we need all of that. I think that's the main thing I tell people, when you get out there, whatever your occupation is going to be, find ways to get one percent better at it.
Tomer Azarly: If you had to assign a couple of heroes to your 76ers teammates, or maybe even a villain if that's based on their game, who's who? Give me like three or four of them. Who's who and who are you kind of going at at practice as the villain?
Tyrese Maxey: Off the top of my head, Joel Embiid gets to be Thanos. Just because he's like Thanos with all of the Infinity Stones, he's really good at basketball. So once he has all those Infinity Stones, he gets to cooking. So I think I'll give him Thanos. Oh, you put me on the spot on this one. Paul George is probably… I give you three. I'll give you two more after this. Paul George is probably someone like Iron Man. He's cool, he's creative. I think when he's when he's healthy and he's at his best, he's extremely talented, and he can do a lot of different things on the basketball court. But he's also really calm and really cool. Jared McCain, if I couldn't give myself Spider-Man, I would probably give it to Jared, because he's got the same kind of energy as me. He has good charisma, he's funny, but when he gets on the court, he's trying to win and kill his opponent. I haven't gotten a good grasp on VJ [Edgecomb] yet, I just met him. So I'll have some more comparisons for you later on.
Tomer Azarly: Okay, when I see down the line, I'm gonna need one on VJ Edgecomb. What's the relationship with New Balance been like over there? It's been a couple of years now. What's just been that relationship building like over the last couple of years?
Tyrese Maxey: It's been great. And I'm honestly, I'm extremely happy. It's like a partner. A partner and someone who I can always not just pick up the phone and do things like this “Hero Pack,” but like things in the community, my foundation, they always help with everything, man. They make sure my family is good. I'm very appreciative of them. And anything that they need on my part, I always try to make sure I'm able to do.
Tomer Azarly: Let me give you a chance to plug your foundation. What are some things that you're doing right now with the foundation?
Tyrese Maxey: Yeah, it's crazy. Like this week in our foundation, on Thursday, we're doing a Night of Giving. That would be an amazing event, kind of just kicks off the weekend. Friday, we're doing a golf tournament. Saturday, we're doing the free kids camp. That's just this weekend. And next weekend, we're going to Dallas and doing a free kids camp there. And then we do turkey drives. We do toy drives. I mean, anything that we could think of. I have a lot of ideas in my head that I kind of just throw out there just to try to help the communities, whether it's Garland, Dallas, or Philly. And I'm just trying to continue to do that.
Tomer Azarly: Why is that important to you to host these?
Tyrese Maxey: I think the biggest thing is my grandmother who passed away, my dad's mom, before she got really sick, when I was in high school and getting ready to go to college, her biggest thing to me was if you're able to make it, you should be able to give back. No one was able to give back to you on the level that you can give back to others after you make it to the NBA. So you should be able to do that. And that's what I've been trying to do. And hopefully she's looking down and I'm making her proud.
Tomer Azarly: New Balance has kind of assembled a nice little Avengers squad here. With you, Darius Garland, Kawhi Leonard, Zach LaVine, just got Cooper Flagg. I know Cameron Brink is just came back from injury. What do you make of the kind of the hoop scene that the New Balance has put together here?
Tyrese Maxey: Man, listen, it's elite! It's elite! But one thing that I really do like about it is New Balance does really good job of picking family-oriented people, good people, good guys, good women. It's been amazing. And it's like a family that I've kind of been able to migrate to and talk to everybody and just pick everybody's brain. And I think everybody's on board and I feel like New Balance has done a good job of creating a wave. A lot of people are wearing New Balance right now. And I feel like that's not just the people that we have on the roster, but New Balance as a brand.
Tomer Azarly: I want to ask you about some hoop questions. Like last year you put up career numbers and points, threes, but the season didn't go like how you wanted it. How was last year for you?
Tyrese Maxey: It's definitely difficult. I've been on winning teams my entire life. That was my first year ever going through that process. But I think it made me, as a man, kind of grow and become better. I think towards the middle of the year, once I understood, okay, this is how the year is going to go. And this is how it's going to be different than normal. I feel like I played a lot better, you know what I mean? And before I fractured my finger, I felt like I was in one of the best grooves I've ever been in as a professional and putting up good numbers and we was winning a few games. But I think what it really has done for me is kind of take a step as a leader and kind of just be able to talk to guys and prepare guys for games and kind of keep guys; head level. And that's one thing I'm going to take away from last year and to the beginning this year.
Tomer Azarly: Are you over the finger factor, fully back to basketball?
Tyrese Maxey: Oh yeah, I'm good. I'm back. Perfect.
Tomer Azarly: You're entering your sixth season, I believe next year. What's an area of your game that you want to grow next?
Tyrese Maxey: Yeah, I've been doing a lot of different things. I've been working on a lot of like just posting and just trying to find ways to slow the game down and create for my teammates. I've got to be able to control the game at a better pace, I feel like, and being able to control the entire 48 minutes of it, whether that's with the ball in my hands, without the ball in my hands, when I'm on the bench and I'm helping my teammates. That's one step that I really want to take.
Tomer Azarly: I saw this about a week ago from you: “Y'all talking y'all mess on this app this summer. Understood.” Where did that come from?
Tyrese Maxey: Yeah, that wasn't even for me personally. That was just for a general. I mean, I had a lot of time on my hands, sadly, because we lost early. I just got a chance to really read people's tweets, not just that pertain to me, just pertain to everybody in the world. It's just, man, people are really getting stuff off their chest. Hey, I get it. Get it off, man. I'm not mad at it at all. Hey, you got something to say, speak it. That's the world that we live in. That's why we live in America.
Yall talking yall mess on this app this summer! UNDERSTOOD🫡!
— Tyrese Maxey (@TyreseMaxey) July 19, 2025
Tomer Azarly: So it wasn't more of a personal thing, people talking about you. It's just what you saw in general.
Tyrese Maxey: No, I don't take anything personal. I live a great life. I'm blessed. I know that we didn't perform the way we wanted to perform last year. That's okay. You take down that on the chin. You take that as a challenge. You go out in the next year and you go out there and you prove people wrong and you make a step.
Tomer Azarly: How has your relationship with Joel developed over the years as you guys have played more and more together?
Tyrese Maxey: It's been great, man. Joel is like, I always say he's a big brother to me. He's somebody who has always believed in me. We talk once or twice a week. It's been great though. I've been communicating with him. I'm just praying for him. Hopefully he gets back healthy and he's somebody who really wants to be out there for his teammates and for himself, and the organization. So we appreciate Joel.
Tomer Azarly: You kind of look at it on paper, this 76ers team looks like it can be really good. You, Joel Embiid, Paul George, VJ Edgecomb, Jared McCain is coming back. You guys have a solid team. What do you kind of think about this 76ers team next season in the East?
Tyrese Maxey: I mean, the biggest thing is we've got to get on the court together, we've got to be healthy and we got to have continuity. You can't do anything if the guys aren't together. If we aren't together, if we aren't all on the court, if we're not all stepping in the right direction and it's going to be extremely hard. So that's my main goal. That's something that I had to focus on and have to really help build, is the chemistry of the team and help this team step in the right direction. And then after that, then we could worry about how talented we are.
Tomer Azarly: I feel like very quickly, you've gone from a young guy, you've gone very quickly from like a young guy to a vet in this league. And in a lot of ways, you're kind of the face of the franchise. Like as if felt really quick to you and kind of, do you kind of embrace that responsibility?
Tyrese Maxey: I definitely have embraced it for sure. But I was telling somebody that the other day, man, I was like, ‘dude, I don't know what happened, but I could have sworn just a couple, maybe two years ago, I was like the youngest guy in rotation.' Now it's like, I got the phone, I called Justin Edwards and he's like, the first thing he said was like, ‘what's up, Unc?' And I was like, ‘Yooo! No, we're not doing that, dude.' But I've embraced it. I mean, it's great. I mean, I've been blessed with an opportunity to really have older vets still, and I also have some younger guys that are closer to my age and whatever the case may be that I can kind of push and try to help them get better as well. So it's going to be fun. I think I'm gonna have a really good year, have a fun year as well.
Tomer Azarly: You're not Unc, that's crazy. That's crazy.
Tyrese Maxey: I'm definitely not Unc, no chance. I'm only 24 years old. No way.
Tomer Azarly: I saw you got to work out with LeBron the other day. I'm sure it wasn't your first time, but what's it like working with a guy like that? Who we know his work ethic and commitment to improving is kind of unmasked in this league.
Tyrese Maxey: Yeah, I think the biggest thing is for me is what I can take from him is just his passion for the game. Like, I'm extremely passionate. I love basketball. Anytime I can do anything that pertains to basketball, I want to do it. But this man is going on like Year 23 and he was working out and talking and involved like it was probably Year five for him. You know what I'm saying? And that's amazing to see. And I think anybody who's able to watch him, not just work out but play should feel honored because it's amazing.
Tomer Azarly: How many times have you worked out with him? Have all the workouts kind of intense like that?
Tyrese Maxey: I don't know how many times I've worked out with him now. I mean, that's crazy to say, I guess, and that's how I know I am getting a little old. But, um, yeah, it's good work, man. It's good work. He does a good job of talking and just being vocal and helping. I'm very appreciative of him. He's done a lot.
Tomer Azarly: A lot of young hoopers out there. What's the key to a long successful NBA career?
Tyrese Maxey: I'm trying to figure that out as well. But I think the biggest thing is just staying consistent with your work. Being attentive to your body. Your body is your temple. Your body is your temple. You know, that's what the Lord says. And it's something that extremely true, especially in our profession. You need your body to be the best of your ability, honestly. And so you got to keep your body healthy food wise, lifting wise, rest wise. The biggest thing for me is I have to learn how to rest. I'm someone who wanted to work out, work out, work out, work out, two, three times a day all the way up to the season, but I had to realize, okay, you got to rest, you play big minutes, heavy minutes during the season, need your body to be fully recovered. Diet, nutrition, all that's important.
Tomer Azarly: Do you have any individual goals at all that you kind of want? I don't know, MVP, stuff like that?
Tyrese Maxey: Yeah, definitely have individual goals. My main thing is just trying to get better, help myself get better. And as long as I keep getting better, I think the organization and my team will be better. So I'm not, I'm not too worried about it. You know, I'm just trying to help us. If if the team goes and we do that, if we win, the individual goals will come.
Tomer Azarly: Anything else you have to add before we wrap up?
Tyrese Maxey: Yeah, if you haven't seen Fantastic Four, go watch it.
Tomer Azarly: Oh, a Fantastic Four plug! Is it better than the previous ones?
Tyrese Maxey: Yeah, go watch it. it's a good movie. If you're a Marvel fan, then you definitely need to go see it. It's better than all the Fantastic Fours, I think.
