Except that Maxi didn’t spike any basketballs or attack the rim. The Philadelphia 76ers star guard was instead guiding several dogs through the Purina Pro Plan Incredible Dog Challenge Agility Show, a part of the 2025 National Dog Show.
Maxi participated in an agility course at the November 16 show taping in front of an audience of approximately 15,000 at the Kennel Club of Philadelphia. He raced two dogs – Howie and Spike – around the course, and his performance aired on NBC on Thanksgiving Day.
He said on the NBC broadcast, “It was really fun. They had me out here sweating. Like I played a whole quarter. I feel like I can stay on the court.”
The course included two tunnels and weaving poles, several agility obstacles, and a tire for the dogs to jump. Maxi, who was unavailable for an interview, grabbed a toy and guided Howie and Spike through the obstacles with commands such as “jump,” “tunnel” and “weave, weave, weave, weave.” Maxi’s turn on the course occurred after the breed’s judging and before the National Dog Show group’s judging.
NBC Sports producer Alexa Maremma told ESPN that show executives first reached out to the 76ers to see if any players were interested in participating. Maxi, a 2024 NBA All-Star, has three dogs and had previous experience taking a dog agility course.
In 2024, Maxi appeared in a State Farm commercial with the Players Tribune, where he learned dog training skills from two professional agility trainers, Perry DeWitt and Jessica Ajaux. DeWitt was part of the 2025 dog show, making it “the perfect match of the world,” Marema said.
The producers wanted Maxi to arrive early for the space tour. Likewise, he wanted to look around, especially finding dog breeds like Cane Corsos – which is one of his breeds – and Bullmastiffs.
“Their faces were lighting up just like when they were walking toward each other like these big old dogs and, you know, they were chanting,” Marema said. “He ate it. He’s obviously a dog lover.”
With various obstacles and carpets in the way, Marema was worried that Maxi might injure himself.
“To be honest, I was afraid he would trip and fall on the carpet,” she said. “As if the Sixers were going to have a problem with that. … You’re running with a dog, and you’re not really looking where you’re going, there’s a tunnel in your way and all that stuff.”
Agility professionals at the show helped choose which dogs would be best for Tyrese. They decided on a smaller dog that could “yell at him because they thought it might be fun,” Maremma said, and one of the larger dogs that required less maintenance.
Once the dogs were selected, it was time to start taping. Maxi asked if he could walk the course with the professionals and practice the commands for each section.
“There’s only so much you can control with these dogs. … So, I think doing dry runs with professionals and making sure he knows, ‘Here’s the fine tunnel, weave here,’ will set him up for success,” Merama said.
It usually takes professionals 18 to 21 seconds to complete the course with their professional dogs.
Maxi’s first race with Howie occurred at 41 seconds when the dog became more interested in the toy than knitting, leading to a short tug of war with Maxi. His second race with the spike – which Marema thought looked “really smooth” – resulted in a commendable time of 30 seconds.
He said, “We wanted to give him two shots with two different dogs to see if that would improve or make a difference, and the second dog was faster.”
Although there were no plans to return Maxi to an agility course in the future, the affection he showed towards the dogs left the door open.
“Any time you can showcase someone who has that passion,” Marema said. “It’s not a bad thing.”
<a href=