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Paul George to Make Season Debut for 76ers After Recovering From Knee Injury
The 76ers are getting their All-Star wing back.
On Monday, ahead of Philadelphia’s clash with the Clippers, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Paul George would be taking the court for the first time this season. George has been recovering from a knee injury he suffered over the summer that wound up requiring surgery.
The Sixers have been playing pretty well in his absence. Driven by the electrifying duo of Tyrese Maxey and rookie sensation V.J. Edgecombe, Philly is 7-5 entering Monday and the team has been competitive night-in and night-out. George’s return will help take some of the scoring load off the backcourt, as well as provide some much-needed defensive versatility on the wing. With Joel Embiid yet again sidelined for an undetermined amount of time George’s presence will be welcomed.
In theory, anyway. George has made a career providing those factors on the court but his first season with the 76ers was quite a struggle. The NBA vet averaged 16.2 points per game, his lowest mark in years, and managed to play 41 games before he was sidelined for the season due to injury; Philadelphia went on to finish 24-58 and earn the third pick in the 2025 draft. It wasn’t what anyone expected out of PG-13 especially given he signed a max contract worth $211 million in free agency to join the Sixers.
As he embarks upon his age-35 season the Sixers have to hope his latest knee injury doesn’t sap too much of the athleticism from his game. They have high hopes in a weak Eastern Conference this season. Geoge might not be capable of providing star-level production like he did for the Clippers in Los Angeles for many years but he needs to at least be a positive out there on the court. Last season that was not the case.
How he looks will go a long way towards determining the Sixers’ immediate future and how problematic his max contract will be in the long-term. So there will be many eyes on George’s debut on Monday.
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Liam McKeone is a senior writer for the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in May 2024, McKeone worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, he is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books and video games. McKeone has been a member of the National Sports Media Association since 2020.