The Philadelphia 76ers struggled through much of the 2024–25 NBA season without Joel Embiid, and now Paul George has opened up about the impact of his teammate’s absence.

© Mitchell Leff/Getty ImagesPaul George of the Philadelphia 76ers talks to Joel Embiid

At the start of the 2024–25 NBA season, the Philadelphia 76ers looked poised to make a serious run in the Eastern Conference.

The arrival of Paul George, paired with Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, signaled the creation of a potential new Big Three and sparked high expectations around the team. However, things went south quickly, with disappointing results largely tied to Embiid’s ongoing injury problems.

“I’ve dealt with stuff popping up and being hurt and I know what that feeling is like,” George said about Joel in a recent interview on The Pivot Podcast.

“I can only imagine you’re 7’2 270–280, you’re walking around carrying that size and how he plays so physical. I can only put myself in his shoes and understand how he felt in those days.”

Paul made it clear just how significant Embiid’s presence is—not just for the Sixers, but for him personally.

It even influenced one of the most important career decisions he’s made: leaving the Los Angeles Clippers to join Philadelphia. “I came here to play with him. I came to Philly to play with him,” the forward said.

But the 2023 NBA MVP’s recurring injuries derailed the team’s hopes. The center appeared in just 31 of the 82 regular-season games before left knee issues became unmanageable, prompting the franchise to shut him down for the rest of the season in late February.

Paul George had a disappointing season with the Sixers

“Big Fella is out tonight, alright how are we going to figure this one out? Now going into the games, Big Fella is unavailable right now so now we’ve got to kind of pivot on how we’re going to play tonight now,” Paul George explained.

“We were always kind of scrambling I think, trying to figure out alright this is how we’ve got to play tonight.”

Paul George also had a rough season

Joel Embiid’s absence was a major blow for Philadelphia, but Paul George didn’t have much better luck. He also missed significant time due to injuries that limited his impact.

After playing in 74 of 82 games with the Clippers last season, George ended up missing exactly half of this year’s schedule with the 76ers. He appeared in just 41 games before being officially ruled out for the remainder of the season in mid-March.

When he was on the floor, George posted some of his lowest numbers in the past decade, averaging 16.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game.

Paul George responds to criticism

The Sixers’ underwhelming season—and George’s underperformance—sparked sharp criticism, much of it centered on questions about his commitment.

The veteran forward addressed that directly. “I think people don’t understand that you can’t physically be in the gym 24 hours out of the day, we’ve got to have a life too,” he said.

“Y’all don’t work, not y’all but fans, like whatever your job is, y’all don’t work 24 hours out of the day. Y’all have leisure time, y’all have things you like to do, y’all got hobby’s,” Paul added.

 “How are you going to ridicule me, I’m in the one percentile of my work. I’ve showed you I work hard obviously if I’ve made it to this point, now why can’t I have a life aside from this job now.”