By Jared Weiss, Mike Vorkunov and David Aldridge
The Philadelphia 76ers shut Paul George down for the remainder of the season Monday, putting an end to a miserable first year together for the organization and its newest star. George received injections in his left knee and left adductor muscle Monday and will be sidelined for at least six weeks, which will rule him out for the season with the Sixers unlikely to make the postseason.
Philadelphia entered Monday night’s game ranked No. 12 in the Eastern Conference with a 23-44 record.
“Following consultations with specialists, as part of his treatment plan, Paul George has received injections in both his left adductor muscle and left knee,” the 76ers said in a statement Monday. “Following the procedure, George is medically unable to play and will be out for at least six weeks.”
George was supposed to be a third star in Philly this season, bolstering the duo of Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey for a team with title hopes entering this year. Instead, he struggled with injuries and underperformance, as the Sixers’ offseason of hope collapsed in a forgettable regular season. He is the second Sixers star to be shut down in the last month, after Embiid and the team jointly agreed at the end of February to end his season after just 19 games because of repeated discomfort in his surgically repaired left knee.
The 34-year-old George played just 41 games this season, the third-lowest total of his 15-year NBA career, while working through knee and groin injuries. George also posted some of the worst statistics of his career — he averaged 16.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game — with the lowest scoring average of his career since his early years in the league and drops across the board in his shooting percentages.
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) March 17, 2025
ESPN’s Shams Charania was the first to report George will miss the remainder of the season.
The Sixers signed George last summer after deploying a risky, yearlong pursuit to nab him from the Los Angeles Clippers. Once they did, they instantly became one of the top contenders in the Eastern Conference. They hoped the troika of George, Embiid and Maxey could catapult them not just to the conference finals, which the franchise hasn’t reached since getting to the NBA finals in 2000, but to a championship.
Instead, this season has been a nightmare. The 76ers will likely miss the playoffs; their biggest concern now is retaining their lottery pick; it will convey to Oklahoma City if it lands outside the top six picks. A star-studded core that was supposed to push deep into the playoffs is now rife with concerns about its age and health amid pricey, long-term contracts.
Turning 35 in May, George is still owed $162.3 million over the next three seasons. Embiid has four years and $248.1 million remaining with a player option on the final season he would likely exercise if he is still playing.
George’s season began on the injured list, as both he and Embiid were not ready for opening night. The wing hyperextended his knee during an October 14 preseason game, eventually making his season debut on November 4.
During this time, the Sixers were investigated by the NBA to determine if their handling of Embiid’s return to play violated the strict player participation policy. George then reinjured that knee in November and missed three games, missed time in January due to a left pinkie finger injury, and then was shut down in early March with left groin soreness and knee concerns.
Though Embiid’s daily injury issues eventually proved to be serious enough to keep him off the floor, George managed to play through several injuries this season to his groin, finger and knee. He has not played since March 4 in Minnesota, but before that, never missed more than five games in a row since making his Sixers debut. He announced on February 26 show that he would step away from his show “Podcast P with Paul George” to prioritize getting healthy and fighting for a playoff run, but the groin injury cut that effort short.
The bigger concern with George was that he was a shell of himself most of the season. He only scored at least 20 points 10 times this year, just under 25 percent of his 41 appearances. Last season with the Clippers, he crossed the 20-point threshold in 49 of his 74 games (66.2 percent). He shot 35.8 percent from 3 for the Sixers, his second-worst shooting output since his rookie season.
He never established himself in a Sixers offense that revolved around Maxey and looked promising when the team was playing up-tempo. Though the team expected him to be an impact player on defense, that appeared to be his biggest weakness over the course of the year. George was not the same swarming help defender he has been in the past and couldn’t guard one-through-four with the same effectiveness.
The team has a month left in the season to develop young players while embracing the tank to keep its pick. With the former All-Star sidelined, trade deadline acquisition Quentin Grimes is averaging 26.4 points per game since the beginning of March, a breakout stretch ahead of restricted free agency.
The team currently holds the sixth spot in the lottery, which would mean the Sixers retain their first-round pick if they don’t drop in the draft order. The top four picks of the draft are selected by lottery, so Philadelphia has a chance to win one of those slots on lottery night in May to secure their future. Keeping their pick would give them a chance to bring back a young core of 24-year-old Maxey, injured rookie Jared McCain, and their selection. McCain was the front-runner for Rookie of the Year before tearing his meniscus in December. That would give the team a chance to compete if Embiid and George get healthy, while still building a potential star trio for the future.
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(Photo: Stacy Revere / Getty Images)
