Latest news with #PaulGeorge
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
"My career is over if I go there" - Paul George on why he'd never sign with the Hornets despite liking the city
"My career is over if I go there" - Paul George on why he'd never sign with the Hornets despite liking the city originally appeared on Basketball Network. Paul George is tied to the Philadelphia 76ers for the next few years on a contract that has sparked plenty of debate. Still, looking beyond that commitment, he recently gave a hypothetical glimpse into his future plans. On a recent episode of his show, George made clear that joining the Charlotte Hornets is — and will remain — off his radar. Charlotte's culture fails to impress PG-13 George was picked 10th overall out of Fresno State and has now spent 15 years in the league. Over that time, the 6'8" swingman has grown into a superstar and one of the NBA's elite two-way players, loaded with individual honors. He boasts nine All-Star selections, two NBA All-Defensive First Team nods, the 2013 Most Improved Player award, and led the league in steals in 2019. It's safe to say the California native has the clout to choose almost any team — if he were to hit free agency right now. But like every athlete facing a major decision, the choice is rarely simple. PG-13 himself pointed to two key factors that carry real weight: the city and the culture surrounding the team. On both fronts, the Hornets present a tough call — one George said he'd rather stay away from. "Listen, if I'm in free agency, I'm not picking Charlotte just because there's no winning culture there," the 76er emphasized. "Charlotte is an amazing city. Would love to play for it, because of the city — like, I can see myself living there. But in terms of a basketball standpoint, I'm not going. My career is over if I go there." Great city but not popular with vets Paul's comment casually hinted at two separate things: Charlotte as a city, and the Hornets as a franchise. And yes — there's a clear gap between the two. City consistently ranks well as a place to live. slotted it at No. 44 on its 2025 list, factoring in safety, schools, and job prospects. The Hornets, meanwhile, sit near the bottom of any hypothetical list of destinations for top-tier talent. In fact, a recent anonymous player poll by The Athletic ranked Charlotte dead last among all NBA franchises. While we can only guess how PG-13 voted, his comment reflected what most players already believe. After all, the team's track record — or lack thereof — speaks for itself. Since joining the league in 1988, the Hornets — once owned by the legendary Michael Jordan — have made the playoffs only ten times and never advanced past the second round. Over the last two seasons, they posted dismal 21-61 and 19-63 records. Ultimately, the numbers don't lie — and neither did George, who likely didn't intend to bash the Hornets but simply stated the facts. There's more than one way to respond to such realities. A smart approach is to use them as motivation to improve. Maybe that's the mindset LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, and the rest of the Hornets will bring when the regular season tips off on October story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jul 17, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
‘Are you kidding me?!' — PG has surgery, Sixers injury woes continue
Bill and Ricky Bo react to the news that Paul George injured his left knee and had surgery. 'Are you kidding me?!' — PG has surgery, Sixers injury woes continue | Unfiltered originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
NBC Sports
3 days ago
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Patient Joel Embiid says no timeline set for his return, but hopes it's 'sooner rather than later'
Philadelphia is the hardest team to project in next season's Eastern Conference. If healthy, they are legit title contenders — but 'if' is doing a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence. Paul George has had offseason knee surgery. As for former MVP Joel Embiid, he is taking a more patient approach with his body this season, following knee issues and an eventual surgery that limited him to 19 games last season. In a fantastic in-depth profile of Embiid by Dotun Akintoye at ESPN, Embiid said he was going to be patient with getting his body right for this season, but that means there is no timeline for his return. 'We're not going to push anything,' he says. 'For my whole career, I felt like we never took that approach... 'We don't have a timeline,' Embiid tells me. 'Hopefully, sooner rather than later.' The 76ers are hopeful that timeline will have him back for training camp in September. That's also when George will be re-evaluated. Pain in his left knee had sidelined Embiid at the start of last season — coming off winning a gold medal with USA Basketball at the Paris Olympics, where his defense on Nikola Jokic in the Serbian game was critical — but he eventually played 19 games spaced out between November and February. When he did he was his dominant self, averaging 23.8 points and 8.2 rebounds a game, but the pain became too much and he had knee surgery that ended his season. Embiid wants to be playing at the end of the season, in the playoffs, and hopes this patient approach gets him there. He's also dictating to the team, this is how things are going to go. 'The only thing I'd say is -- this is a business,' Embiid tells me. 'It's all about the results. ... If I come back early enough and I'm still not myself, guess what? You're not winning any games.'
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Clippers Star 'Not Talking' to 76ers Star, Joel Embiid Claims
Clippers Star 'Not Talking' to 76ers Star, Joel Embiid Claims originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The Philadelphia 76ers have attempted to pair Joel Embiid with other NBA stars. He started with Ben Simmons, who was his 6-foot-9 facilitator early in his career. Although he wasn't an aggressive scorer, Simmons helped Embiid emerge as a star. That was followed by Jimmy Butler, who formed a Big 3 with them for a short stint. Then, came James Harden. It was like Embiid was playing with a better version of Ben Simmons. A big guard who can score from anywhere and formed an unstoppable dynamic with the 2023 MVP. On top of that, Tyrese Maxey emerged as a star in his third year. Now, Embiid has a Big 3 with Paul George and Maxey. Although their first season wasn't a success, they've shown promise in the 15 games they shared the court last season. Embiid was recently interviewed by ESPN's Dotun Akintoye, where they talked about his response to his critics. The star player also revealed the shocking truth about his current relationship with Los Angeles Clippers star James Harden. "No one knows this, but even James [Harden] is not talking to me. That's the part I don't like about being 'that guy,' because it puts you in the middle of those situations," Embiid revealed. "Because if you ask James, he probably believes I had something to do with him not being here." "It hurts when you feel like you haven't done anything wrong. When you think you have a relationship like that with somebody … you lose a lot." Harden's breakup with the 76ers wasn't pretty. In 2023, everyone thought he'd stay with the organization after he picked up his $35.6 million player option. Following that, however, he criticized Daryl Morey, the franchise's team president of basketball operations. He stated that Morey was a "liar" and Harden expressed his disinterest in playing for an organization that employed the executive. That led to him getting traded to the Clippers for Marcus Morris Sr., Nicolas Batum, Kenyon Martin Jr. and Robert Covington. Philly also received a first-round pick, two second-round picks, a pick swap, and cash considerations from the story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 17, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Have the Sixers reached the end of the road with Embiid, George?
Yahoo Sports contributing NBA writer Tom Haberstroh and NBA writer Dan Devine discuss Philadelphia's strategy with its oft-injured superstars and if it's time for the team to part ways with both. Hear the full conversation on 'The Big Number' and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen. View more Video Transcript I'll just go ahead and say it. I think they need to move on from the Paul George uh timeline and just go with the kids. I think, I think it has come to that point, but the problem is, no matter how much they would like to move on from this and say we need to go full youth movement, it isn't really up to them. It's up to other teams who are really like looking at these contracts with Paul George and Joel Embiid. And determining whether those are plus value assets and what it would take for them to take on Joel Embiid's contract, which will pay him. A ton of money going forward, and as long as Joel Embiid and Paul George are on this team, and with all those question marks around their knees and their health questions and their ability to gel together, we don't even know if they can play well together, in that chemistry. They paid that big three $136 million last season. They played 15 games together, which if you do the math, carry the two. That's $9 million per game that those big three played together. So over the next three seasons, we're looking at a situation in which this coming year, they got $145 million on the books dedicated to those three, 153 in 2026, 2027, and if Paul George picks up that player option, that fourth year of his player option, that will be $163 million that are allocated to those three players. Yeah, like well over 90% of the salary cap for each of the next three years. I mean, this was, this was the bet they made, right? They are stuck, they are stuck in this in-between of we've made our firm commitment to this build. And also, we are backfilling, because again, if you're paying more than 90% of your cap to three guys, you've got to find the other talent somewhere else, and you've got like the kids have to be all right. Close
