The Philadelphia 76ers season has gone completely off the rails, as the franchise fell to their eighth consecutive loss of the season earlier this week against the Chicago Bulls. With Joel Embiid now expected to be ruled out for some time, the onus of carrying the team to the Playoffs will fall on Paul George and Tyrese Maxey.
But it doesn’t seem like George likes the team’s attitude, criticizing the group for a while in a post-game press conference for not being locked in at the caliber of an NBA contender.
“It’s all of it. Regardless of who’s playing or not playing, but to have aspirations for this group to believe that we can beat… Not only to get to the Playoffs but to make a push toward it. We’ve shown no sign of a team that will compete. We just don’t have the habits a champion or a playoff-contending team would have. To be honest, right now it’s a little far-fetched. All we can do is work hard and try to just keep going. We’ve shown no signs of, forget championship, but even a Playoff contender.”
Paul George isn’t sure if the 76ers are even a playoff team after going 1-10 over last 11 games 😳 pic.twitter.com/z1YVfmudOy
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 25, 2025
George should do some self-reflection, as his production hasn’t come close to reflecting the max contract he signed with Philly in the summer.
He’s averaging 16.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 4.2 assists this season, all career lows outside his rookie season. This is simply untenable, as George was supposed to be the perfect third star behind Maxey and Joel Embiid.
Embiid’s injury problems have persisted all year, as the big man is averaging 23.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 4.5 assists in just 19 games.
While he still might be an MVP-caliber player, this put a heavier responsibility on George to carry the team’s scoring like he had done with the Los Angeles Clippers in years prior. There’s a small sample size for success but it’s hard to watch that and say improvements have been made on the court.
Paul George will likely see out his career as a 76ers. He’d want to prove his worth on the contract, as his deal is already looking like one of the worst in NBA history given what the 76ers gave up for this version of George.
Paul George Is Fighting Through The Pain
The 76ers have a 20-37 record which all but guarantees them a spot in the Draft lottery if they miss the Play-In Tournament. They’re currently the No. 12 seed in the East, but have the talent to easily block ahead of the No. 10 seeded Chicago Bulls who are just 2.5 games ahead.
They owe a top-six protected draft pick to the OKC Thunder next year. It’s in the team’s interests to be bad enough on the court this season to keep their pick safe, so it might be time to start shutting their stars down.
Joel Embiid is already being reported as exploring surgical options for his nagging injuries. George is still playing regularly but a formal white flag by the franchise this season might allow him to stop taking injections to play through the pain he’s feeling with his knee. He even jokingly suggested the same to Embiid to help him push through his injuries.
Playing like this could cause damage to George’s knee which would be almost impossible to get back from. Hopefully, he recognizes the writing on the wall and stops playing more games this season with an eye to next year as a new start.
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