According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, the Philadelphia 76ers star wing is “expected to make his season debut at home tonight against his former team, the Los Angeles Clippers, sources tell ESPN.”
George has missed the team’s first 12 games this season while recovering from arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in July. The Sixers have gone 7-5 to start the 2025-26 campaign.
It hasn’t been easy recording those seven wins, however, with the Sixers 3-3 in games decided by three points or less (and 1-0 in overtime contests). The team has only played in four games decided by a double-digit point margin (3-1 in those contests) this season.
Part of that has been a severely depleted depth chart.
George has yet to play this season. Star center Joel Embiid has only played in six contests, a combination of the team limiting his workload to manage his history of left knee issues and recent right knee soreness that cost him the past two games. Promising young guard Jared McCain has only played limited minutes in three contests and has yet to look like himself after recovering from last year’s season-ending meniscus injury. Power forward Dominick Barlow, expected to play a role early in the season due to all of those injuries despite only being on a two-way contract, missed nine games after suffering a right elbow laceration.
And to top if off, wing Kelly Oubre Jr. and center Adem Bona are now dealing with injuries that will cost them time as well. The result has been star guard Tyrese Maxey (40.3 MPG) and rookie VJ Edgecombe (37.3 MPG) playing an unsustainable amount of minutes as the Sixers look to remain competitive.
Suffice to say, George’s return is vital. While the 35-year-old struggled in his first season in Philadelphia last year, averaging just 16.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.8 steals per game, he was also hampered by injuries that limited him to 41 contests.
The hope is that he returns closer to the form that made him a nine-time All-Star and one-time first-team All-NBA selection during his career. The Sixers are in desperate need of his ability to create his own offense off the dribble, his defense on the wing, his secondary playmaking and his catch-and-shoot ability, if only to take some of the pressure off Maxey.
It’s possible, of course, that George will no longer be an elite option on the wing given his age. But even in a more complementary role, his return is vital for a Sixers team that has been besieged by injuries this season but shown levels of resilience that weren’t present during 2024-25’s disappointing 24-58 effort.
