Philadelphia 76ers star Paul George made his season debut on Monday against his former team, the Los Angeles Clippers. George missed the 76ers’ training camp, preseason games and the first 12 games of the 2025-26 NBA season due to a left knee injury. The last time he was on the court was March 4. Against the Clippers, he had to find his rhythm after missing a significant amount of time.
Since George is coming off an injury, he was limited for the 76ers. The veteran forward was on the floor for just 21 minutes and finished with nine points, seven rebounds and three assists. He struggled to shoot the basketball, only making 22.2% of his field goals. Still, it was a positive sight for 76ers fans to see one of their best players back in action.
After Philly’s 110-108 win, George talked to the media about how he felt in his first game back. According to him, he felt good being with the team. But admitted that he’s rusty from being away from the action for a while.
“It felt great,” George said after the win. “It felt great to finally play basketball again. It’s been, like, eight months since I played so it was a long journey. A lot of ups and downs, a lot of hiccups, but it felt good to finally get out there. I felt good. Just rusty, but I feel good.”
“The balance of letting the game come to you and then trying to like—I gotta, I guess, push it a little bit, just from a cardio and conditioning standpoint, but then before you know it, five minutes is up, and then getting subbed out,” George explained.
Paul George said that he felt like he rushed things against the Clippers.
Paul George’s offseason was tough due to rehab
Paul George’s first season with the 76ers was tough. He averaged some of his lowest numbers, 16.2 ppg, 5.3 rpg and 4.3 apg. Additionally, he was limited to 41 games due to injury, which forced the organization to shut him down for the rest of the season.
His offseason ended early and he had to rehab his knee. By the time free agency was around, some reports said he had recovered. However, he had to be sidelined again after he re-aggravated his injury. After the contest against LA, he revealed that it was tough for him to have an offseason where he had to rehab.
“It was tough, because I finished the offseason fairly healthy, feeling good, and then I had the freak accident, and then restart,” George said.
Fortunately for George, he had a breakthrough with the doctors. This allowed him to return to the lineup.
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Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen on Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
