The Philadelphia 76ers’ $212 million man appears to have dodged a bullet after hyperextending his left knee during Monday night’s preseason game against the Atlanta Hawks.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reports Paul George has been diagnosed with a bone bruise in his left knee and will be reevaluated next Tuesday — a day before the Sixers’ season opener against the Milwaukee Bucks at home. More importantly, George didn’t suffer any structural damage.
Philadelphia 76ers star Paul George has a bone bruise and no structural damage to his left knee and will be re-evaluated in approximately one week, team says. pic.twitter.com/1Jhuuig17X
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 15, 2024
The injury caused quite a scare. George’s left knee seemed to buckle while he was guarding Hawks small forward Jalen Johnson.
Related: VIDEO: Philadelphia 76ers title hopes already in jeopardy after ugly injury suffered by Paul George
George was able to walk gingerly off the court and didn’t play in the second half.
Following the game, George didn’t seem too concerned about what happened.
“Obviously, I’m in a new organization. I’m trying to build,” George told The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Gina Mizell. “We’ve got so much with growing pains, and [only] so much time to learn and try to figure each other out. … So it [stinks]. It’s unfortunate.
“But, again, I’m not too concerned going forward of what this injury is. It’ll just be a little time.”
Paul George hyperextended his left knee, per @ginamizell
Prayers 🙏
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) October 15, 2024
Sixers head coach Nick Nurse also sounded optimistic about George after Tuesday’s practice.
“PG was here today,” Nurse told The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Keith Pompey. “He got it looked at again. Everything checked out OK. They are going to do some further imaging this afternoon to see if there’s anything else. He’s in good spirits.
“… But it’s OK for now. We will see what happens with the imaging.”
Paul George injury history
George’s injury history didn’t scare off the Sixers from giving the 34-year-old a four-year, $212 million contract. The franchise is hoping George is the final piece of the puzzle to win the Sixers their first championship since 1983.
During his five seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers prior to signing with the Sixers, George had played in 263 games, averaging just 52 games a season. George started 74 games in 2023-24, the most he played since 2018-19 when he was with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
ESPN previously reported that the Sixers would be careful of George’s workload during the season, with general manager Daryl Morey saying he doesn’t expect George — or oft-injured superstar Joel Embiid — to play in many back-to-back games.
Embiid will not play in any preseason games as he continues to ramp up activity after a left knee injury limited him to 39 regular season games last year.
It remains to be seen if both George and Embiid will be ready for the Oct. 23 season opener against the Bucks.
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