The Philadelphia 76ers spent the past year positioning themselves to sign Paul George. The idea was to give themselves a three-star core with Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey that would not only fit well together as a group, but would provide a bit of insurance against future injuries. Well, the regular season hasn’t even started yet and an injury has already occurred. On Monday, the 76ers faced the Atlanta Hawks in a preseason game, George’s second thus far in Philadelphia. In the second quarter, though, George exited the game after suffering a knee injury.
He was defending Jalen Johnson in the paint when Johnson gave him a little push to the chest. He lost the ball in doing so, though, and as George reacted, he fell to the ground in pain. He was quickly ruled out for the night. The initial diagnosis was a hyperextended knee. On Tuesday, the 76ers said that George has a bone bruise in his left knee with no structural damage and will be re-evaluated in approximately one week.
Head coach Nick Nurse noted after the game that the team was “trying to work him into things, and he wants to work into things too. So this doesn’t give him a chance to do that. Hopefully it’ll be OK so he’s back with us right away.” The prognosis on such an injury can vary depending on its severity, but it’s possible that George will now miss the beginning of the season. The 76ers open their season next Wednesday (Oct. 23) against the Bucks.
George has a lengthy history of injuries. He most notably suffered a compound fracture in his right leg while playing for Team USA in 2014, but he has also dealt with minor, nagging injuries in recent years. While he only missed eight games last season, he missed 113 regular-season games in the four prior seasons combined. At 34, injuries are going to be a fear for George moving forward.
Philadelphia seemingly plans to manage injuries cautiously this season. Earlier Monday, Embiid guessed that he “would probably never play back-to-backs the rest of my career.” Philadelphia’s goal is to be healthy in April, not October, so the team will likely manage George as carefully as possible.
