Last summer, the Philadelphia 76ers landed Paul George in one of the biggest moves in the offseason. At the time, George was fresh off an All-Star campaign and the most efficient season of his career. Now alongside Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, there were reasons to be excited about the 76ers. However, many doubted the team’s ability to stay healthy throughout the season. Unfortunately for the 76ers, this doubt has proved to be true so far. And with the latest injury update on George, things are just getting worse for Philadelphia.
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, George has gotten injections just to play in some of the 76ers’ last few games. Charania notes that this is slightly normal for the playoffs, but it is not common for a player to do this in the regular season. Furthermore, Charania said that the 76ers could shut George down by the end of the season.
Paul George is receiving injections just to play, per @ShamsCharania
“Thats something players do come playoff time, not necessarily in the regular season”
(h/t @ohnohedidnt24 )pic.twitter.com/RCXSymq7j5
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) February 13, 2025
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“The season started for Paul George with a hyperextension and a bone bruise, a really nasty-looking injury at the time, and it’s really been an uphill battle for him since that point. He’s had multiple different little nagging injuries that have come up. Most recently, he’s had tendon damage in his left pinky that he’s been fighting. He’s been doing everything that he can to be on the court, though, and to try to be available,” Charania said.
“I’m told it’s to the point that he has gotten injections to play and compete over the last four or five games. Now that’s something that players do come playoff time, not necessarily in the regular season…we can tell he’s not 100%…There’s going to be a point in time here, Malika, where the second half of the season, definitely in the offseason, they’re going to have to have some conversations about availability and potentially maybe even shutting a guy or two down in the second half of the season.”
NBA Insider Provides Discouraging Paul George Injury Update
Paul George Is Not the Only Sixer Dealing With an Injury
In addition to George, Embiid is dealing with injury problems as well. So far, the former MVP has only appeared in 17 games for the 76ers due to a knee injury. Furthermore, he has only appeared in six games in the new year. Recently, Embiid said that he expects to undergo another knee surgery in the offseason. This is far from ideal, especially given that Embiid has had injury problems his entire career. Philadelphia also lost Jared McCain for the season due to a meniscus injury.
The 76ers are 20-34 and own the No. 11 seed in the Eastern Conference. As it stands, they are out of the playoff picture completely. They still have a lot of basketball left to turn things around. However, they have given fans few reasons to believe they can do so this season.
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