By Anietie anii-bassey
Joel Embiid sat out yet another game with an injury, an all-too-familiar sight in a season defined by physical breakdowns and dashed expectations for the Philadelphia 76ers.
As the franchise once again tried to steady itself, the absence of one of its cornerstones was compounded by a stunning blow delivered from the league office: Paul George, the team’s marquee offseason acquisition, was suspended 25 games for violating the NBA’s anti-drug policy.
The punishment capped a bleak stretch for George and intensified the sense that what was supposed to be a championship-chasing campaign has instead veered toward crisis. The league did not specify the substance involved in the violation, and George told ESPN that while dealing with a mental health issue he had taken something he later learned was “improper.”
The suspension is expected to cost him about $11.7 million of his $51.7 million salary and removes him from the lineup until the final weeks of the regular season.
It was the latest twist in a year that has already tested the Sixers’ resilience and once again raised questions about the franchise’s ability to build a durable contender around Embiid. Only months earlier, George had spoken candidly about the physical and emotional toll of playing through injuries — both his own and those of his superstar teammate.
“Drugs help me,” George said last February while discussing how he coped with persistent pain. He acknowledged relying on pain-killing injections to deal with multiple ailments, including tendon damage in his left pinkie, and expressed sympathy for Embiid’s struggles. “I get it, especially how big he is, the size he is, and how he plays. I know it takes a toll on him.”
A nine-time All-Star, George offered a rare glimpse into the lengths elite athletes sometimes go to remain on the court, pushing through physical breakdowns and psychological strain in pursuit of wins, contracts and legacy. That vulnerability has taken on new resonance in light of his suspension and a season that has spiraled far from the optimism that greeted his arrival in Philadelphia.
George signed a four-year, $212 million deal last summer, forming what was supposed to be a fearsome trio alongside Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. Instead of vaulting into title contention, the Sixers endured a miserable 24-win campaign last season and entered this year hoping merely to reset.
George’s first months in Philadelphia were ravaged by knee and adductor injuries, producing one of the least productive stretches of his career. Off the court, he admitted to sleepless nights and mounting anxiety as wildfires tore through parts of Southern California, threatening friends’ homes and stirring fears for his own family’s safety.
“Can’t get any worse than last year,” George said in September, describing it as a “rock-bottom” season.
It did.
Before the suspension, George had appeared in 27 games and averaged 16 points, the third-highest mark on the roster behind Maxey and Embiid. He had just delivered one of his best performances in a Philadelphia uniform earlier in the week, drilling nine 3-pointers and scoring 32 points in a win over Milwaukee.
With George providing steady minutes and Embiid flashing signs of his former dominance — including a 40-point outing against New Orleans, his highest total since a franchise-record 70 in January 2024 — there were flickers of belief that a season once written off might yet turn intriguing.
Instead, the Sixers remain trapped in a familiar state: talented enough to inspire fleeting hope, battered enough by injuries and inconsistency to extinguish it just as quickly.
They have shown flashes of brilliance and moments of embarrassment, including a stunning 50-point deficit in one lopsided loss to Charlotte, underscoring the volatility that has haunted the franchise for decades.
“I think he’s done well with what we’ve needed him to do, but there’s been a lot of unfortunate things,” coach Nick Nurse said of George. “Injuries, obviously. The team’s whole situation last year. A couple injuries early this year coming out of some stuff — it’s been unfortunate, but it’s where we are.”
Stuck.
The timing of George’s absence was especially jarring Saturday night, when the organization celebrated the 25th anniversary of Allen Iverson’s electrifying run to the 2001 NBA Finals. Iverson was in attendance, joined by former team president Pat Croce, ex-general manager Billy King and other figures from that improbable Eastern Conference championship squad.
Highlights of Iverson’s fearless drives and iconic step-over of Tyronn Lue flashed across the arena screens, rekindling memories of a period when the undersized guard embodied the city’s appetite for grit and authenticity.
The nostalgia, however, also underscored how distant that era has become. The Sixers have not advanced past the second round of the playoffs since that Finals appearance, and they have not won a championship since 1983.
In the years since, the franchise has cycled through star pairings and aborted rebuilds — from the late-career experiments with Chris Webber, James Harden and Jimmy Butler to the infamous “Process,” which produced Embiid but also a trail of squandered lottery picks such as Ben Simmons, Markelle Fultz and Jahlil Okafor. Former cornerstones like Andre Iguodala and Jrue Holiday went on to find postseason success elsewhere.
Maxey’s emergence as a steal at No. 21 in the 2020 draft, a promising rookie campaign from third overall pick VJ Edgecombe and Embiid’s recent resurgence briefly hinted that perhaps a season of modest expectations could morph into something more.
The immediate challenge, though, is survival. A grueling five-game Western road trip begins Monday, and Philadelphia must try to remain competitive until George becomes eligible to return with roughly 10 games left.
Billy King, who ran the team until 2007 and later served as Brooklyn’s general manager, has watched every ambitious gamble and painful misstep from afar. He says the inability to replicate the magic of 2001 is less mysterious than it appears.
“You’ve got to get lucky, you’ve got to be healthy,” King said. “But it is hard. After that run, trying to put it back together, I sat in that seat — it’s hard to duplicate it. You’ve really got to get lucky.”
For a franchise that once rode Iverson’s defiance into the Finals, the intervening quarter-century has often felt like a cycle of near-misses and self-inflicted wounds. George’s suspension, arriving in a season already defined by injuries and uncertainty, is only the latest reminder of how fragile Philadelphia’s ambitions remain — and how elusive sustained success has become.
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