76ers guard Tyrese Maxey takes his handles to the National Dog Show

Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey has great handles on the basketball court. Though as he learned recently, that skill set isn’t transferrable to the dog-handling ring.

On Thursday, Maxey appeared on the NBC telecast of the National Dog Show, which traditionally airs directly after the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The show was recorded on Nov. 16 at the Kennel Club of Philadelphia.

Maxey owns three pups of his own: a Cane Corso named Apollo and two Bernedoodles named Aries and Arrow. On the broadcast, he tried his hand at handling dogs on the agility course – a series of obstacles dogs must maneuver through in a specific order and are judged on time. He ran with Howie, an 8-year-old Border Collie, and Spike, a 2-year-old Border Collie Papillon. Maxey admitted to some nerves, which only must have gotten worse when Howie took a mid-course break for a game of tug-of-war.

“I’ve been on the course with no crowd. So that was my first time with the crowd,” Maxey told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “I played in a lot of playoff games. I played in both the Gardens. I played in Miami. I played in Brooklyn — and that’s the most nervous I’ve been to go through something.”

Maxey also compared running the course to running the floor with his NBA contemporaries.

"It was really fun. They got me out here sweating. Like I just played a whole quarter. I think I'm going to stick to staying on the court," he said on the NBC broadcast.

Soleil, a 6-year-old pitch black Belgian Sheep Dog, emerged over more than 1,900 other dogs to claim Best in Show.

Maxey, an All-Star and the league’s Most Improved Player in 2023-24, is in the midst of a career year for the 76ers, averaging career highs of 30.2 points, 7.5 assists and 1.6 steals.

The 76ers are currently 9-8 and sit in fourth place in the Atlantic Division. They next play the Nets, who are fifth in the division at 3-14, at 7:30 p.m. ET on Friday.