Tyrese Maxey participated in the National Dog Show

by: Tyler Thompson3 hours agoMrsTylerKSR

The National Dog Show is a Thanksgiving tradition, coming on right after the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on NBC. The event actually took place Nov. 15-16 in Philadelphia, and one of the NBA’s hottest young stars and a former Kentucky Wildcat was part of it. Tyrese Maxey led two dogs through an agility course on the show floor, which the 76ers guard told the Philadelphia Inquirer was one of the most nerve-wracking moments of his life.

“I’ve been on the course with no crowd. So that was my first time with the crowd,” Maxey said. “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.”

The clip of Maxey leading one of the dogs, Howie, through the course went viral. It started well, with Howie hopping through a hoop and running through a tunnel at Maxey’s guidance; however, halfway through, the dog took a break to play tug-of-war with Maxey over a toy, much to the crowd’s delight.

“I think that was probably my favorite part, the tugging,” Maxey said. “That was really fun to improvise, but definitely fun.”

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Tyrese Maxey is a man of many talents!

Catch him as a dog trainer on the National Dog Show Thanksgiving Day at 12pm ET on NBC and Peacock. pic.twitter.com/gH0oJJnwjD
— NBA on NBC and Peacock (@NBAonNBC) November 26, 2025

Maxey told the Inquirer that he grew up watching dog shows and had two dogs, Max and Zoey, the latter of which still lives with his mother. He has three pups now: Apollo, a Cane Corso who was a gift from one of his teammates in his rookie year, and Aries and Arrow, Bernedoodles he got over the summer and has been training all year. Maxey himself learned how to lead dogs through agility courses in the summer of 2024:

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Maybe his turn on the National Dog Show floor will inspire Maxey to get his pups in the game. Hopefully, we’ll get to see more footage on the National Dog Show broadcast Thursday at noon ET (NBC, Peacock).