Philadelphia’s Paul George Ruled Out for Rest of NBA Season

In his first year of a four-year, $212 million contract, George will finish the season having played in just half of the 76ers’ games.

Paul George of the Philadelphia 76ers takes a shot against the Milwaukee Bucks at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on Feb. 9, 2025. Stacy Revere/Getty Images

A nightmare of a season for Paul George is officially over after the Philadelphia 76ers declared their prized free agent acquisition out for the rest of the 2024-25 NBA season due to multiple injuries. He finishes the season having played in 41 games, meaning he’ll play in exactly half of a possible 82 games, and he last suited up on March 4.

The Sixers announced the news on Monday, referencing injuries to George’s thigh and knee. It had been reported that George was receiving painkilling injections all year, and the 76ers confirmed those procedures are the reasons he will be unable to play again in 2024-25.

“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 Sixers said in a statement.

“Following the procedure, George is medically unable to play and will be out for at least six weeks. Further updates on his recovery will be provided as appropriate.”

The timeline means George would be able to return, at the earliest, in the last week of April. That would be when the first round of the playoffs takes place, but the postseason is extremely unlikely for Philadelphia this year. Entering play on Monday, the Sixers sit 12^th in the Eastern Conference, with only the top six seeds guaranteed playoff berths and seeds 7-10 going through the NBA Play-In Tournament.

Philly is five games back of the 10-seed Chicago Bulls, but Chicago has victories in four of its last five games. To find four victories for the 76ers, you have to go back to their last 19 games, as they sport a 4-15 record over that stretch.

George signed a four-year, $212 million contract with the Sixers in the offseason after spending his previous five seasons playing with his hometown Los Angeles Clippers. A nine-time All-Star, George was viewed as the missing piece in the 76ers’ championship puzzle, and also as the perfect complement to Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey.

However, George’s Philly tenure got off track during preseason, and it never truly got back on. He hyperextended his knee during preseason, forcing him to miss the first five games of the regular season. He proceeded to play in eight of the next nine games, but then reinjured his knee and was forced to miss three straight outings in late November. He later missed games with both groin soreness and ankle soreness as his injuries seemed to compound one another.

Then, just as he was getting his legs under him as the calendar flipped to 2025, George suffered a finger injury that knocked him out of five games. Even when he was able to get on the court, it was clear that the various ailments were limiting George, who performed well below his career norms. After averaging at least 21.5 points over each of his 10 previous full seasons,

George averaged just 16.2 points this year, his lowest since 2011-12. Last season with the Clippers, George had career highs in both field goal percentage (47.1) and 3-point percentage (41.3), but those marks dropped to 43 percent and 35.8 percent, respectively, this year.

It was three weeks ago that George publicly lamented his injuries and referenced them as a reason for stepping away from his podcast.

“I haven’t been the healthiest, so it’s just been putting a ton of work towards getting my body as healthy as possible, and to keep focus of obviously being here and trying to turn things around here and the full focus is trying to get this team together,” George said.

George, who will turn 35 in May, is a six-time All-NBA selection and four-time All-Defensive selection. He’s one of six active players with at least 18,000 points and 1,500 steals, alongside LeBron James, Kevin Durant, James Harden, Russell Westbrook and Stephen Curry. George also ranks ninth in NBA history with 2,349 made three-point attempts.

The 76ers’ ruling George out for the season comes roughly two weeks after they did the same for Embiid. The 2022-23 NBA MVP has also been in an out of the lineup all season, battling injuries all over his body, with the most prominent being to his troublesome knee. Meanwhile, the youngest of the Sixers’ Big 3 in Maxey has also missed the last two weeks with a back injury, and there is nothing that indicates he will return anytime soon.

Philadelphia struggles to field enough healthy players to take the court these days. For its Monday game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, the 76ers ruled 10 players out. That left them with just eight healthy players, with three of those on two-way contracts, which let players split time between their NBA team and its G League affiliate.

But the upside to the Sixers struggling to a 23-44 record, and already having more losses than they’ve had since the 2016-17 season, is draft ramifications. Their first-round selection in the 2025 draft is top-six protected, meaning they get to keep a previously traded pick if they end up deserving a top-six draft pick, otherwise it would go to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Philly enters Monday with the league’s sixth-worst record, giving it a high probability of holding onto that draft pick.