Before the Sixers' 2024-25 season finale, nine-time All-Star Paul George met with the media for the first time since being shut down the final weeks of the season. In the latest edition of Sixers soundbites, a batch of quotes from George on how this hellish season went so wrong, his current health and much more:
• George on whether he was surprised by the turn this season took:
"Surprised, obviously. We didn't see ourselves being, I don’t know, 13th or whatever we are in the [Eastern Conference], you know, given the personnel here. But we did have some — a lot — of unfortunate things go on throughout the year with the injuries and not being able to stay healthy… To be honest, I think it was going to take time for us to kind of get where we really wanted to get to. Obviously, you’ve got to be optimistic in every situation, given the talent that we have. But I think moving forward, hopefully we can get healthy, work extremely hard this summer. I think it'll be a different summer, at least for me: I'm not deciding where my future is or who I'm going to play for in the upcoming season. I know exactly where I'm at and what I need to do this summer and kind of go from there."
• George on the team's biggest issue beyond a lack of consistent health and availability:
"I think we were just in scramble all year, to be honest. I think we were just in scramble. One player comes in, one player goes out, and it kind of was just that cycle all season long and, you know, I give [head coach Nick] Nurse a ton of credit for just kind of picking up pieces — literally — and trying to figure this thing out as we were going throughout the year. But I think, again, [there] was just no consistency in terms of lineups, personnel and who was just on the floor in general. I think past the injuries part of it, you kind of just can say it was just no consistency with just the guys being on the floor together."
• George on his current health status after dealing with finger, groin and knee injuries throughout the season:
"Feeling a lot healthier in that, still taking some time, taking things slowly. The finger is kind of non-existent as far as the limitations. The groin has taken a little time and the knee has been trending in the right direction. So all in all, I'm expecting you to ramp up to a great summer hitting the ground running. So there shouldn't be any limitations for me in the future to train and get prepared for this next year."
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• George on his plans for the summer ahead:
"Just getting healthy, getting a really good team around me to get my body in the best shape. That plan is already in place, mapping out what it looks like for me is in place, now it's just putting the work behind it, which I plan to do and [am] looking forward to. But I think that's just where it lies. I know what level I can play at when I am healthy and obviously it's a struggle when I'm not healthy. So for me, it's just trying to get my body in as best shape as possible, get as healthy as possible and continue to do the work that I've been doing."
• George on the state of his relationship with Joel Embiid:
"I think this year has given me a good chance to kind of work on that chemistry on court. Obviously chemistry on court has gotten better, but the chemistry on court, I think it was a good lesson for me to kind of see and experience [being] on the floor with, to see what works, how can I play off him, how [we can] play together. I think that's a continued relation to build on the court, but it just comes down to trusting one another, trust in our process that I'll get better. All year, he was letting me know, ‘hey, you can play this way, you can do this, you can do that.’ So that kind of helped with getting me adjusted and acclimated to the team. But, I mean, I don't see that being a problem. We both look forward to it and I think again, it's a better understanding from both of us I think going into the next year."
• George on the difficulty of this season for him mentally and physically:
"It was just, to be honest, one of the toughest seasons for me, just with a lot of adversity on the court, off the court and then again, the injury stuff was some stuff that I didn't necessarily know I had going on until deep-diving and finding out there was other stuff that we, that I didn't know was going on that was causing a little imitation, which was frustrating. Not being able to do things that I normally could do and then finding out the reasons why those things are being addressed. So that's the positive."
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• George on what he hopes younger players on the team take away from this season:
"Not giving up… with all the frustration, just finding ways to just not give up, try to keep working, keeping positive, being optimistic and for a group [with] a ton of young guys coming in and out, showing up for them, being a leader and someone that they can see work hard in the weight room and training, hopefully it left and leaves a great impression on the young guys to continue to work hard and stay in the gym and work on your body and the importance of nutrition. So hopefully that [had] a big impact, but I think just remaining positive throughout this whole process I think was something I learned."
• George on his relationship with Philadelphia after a trying debut season:
"This is an amazing fan base, amazing city to play for. And obviously, there are great interactions with fans, and I won't even say bad interactions, but there are interactions that as a player you, you know, you can only put yourself in their shoes and, and respect their opinion. So, again, it definitely left me with, ‘Alright, I want to get to work this summer.’ And this is a place that you want to win at."
• George on if he was surprised by how difficult it was for the team to form an identity:
"Not necessarily. I thought we won games, we had great moments and we saw what it looked like when it did click and when it did gel… I haven't played with someone as dominant and as good at that position as Joel is on both sides of the floor. And that was an adjustment for me. So with that, you kind of have to see it for what it is and you know, I pride myself on being able to play in any situation, in every situation, whether it's on the ball, whether it's off the ball. So it was a learning curve for me to kind of adjust, playing that style… Obviously, we have to continue to work this thing out, but me, I always stay optimistic and again, I think I can play in any situation."
• George on why he believes the Sixers can reach championship contention:
"I think with the personnel we have, I think with finding young talent like Jared [McCain], like Justin [Edwards], pieces that will make us better. I thought Ricky [Council IV] played well this year, just finding the young talent that we have to kind of help us. We are an older team, when you look at the top of it with Joel, myself, Eric [Gordon], Kelly [Oubre Jr. is] trending upwards, and then we have the young core of Tyrese, Justin, Jared, and hopefully we retain our top pick, find another young talent to kind of help push us forward."
• George on what the team will need beyond a clean bill of health to succeed down the line:
"I think continuity, identity, knowing who we are when we step on that floor. I think that just carries us through a game. I've always preached on that: when a team has an identity, they know who they are, they play like they know who they are and I think that's just what we've got to find as a team."
• George on the personal matters that made all of this season's difficulties even more burdensome:
"A ton of stuff going on. It was a tough — it was a lot for me. I think from a mental standpoint. A lot of stuff that was just going on that I kind of was trying to balance while being in a new situation. There was internal stuff for me, there was personal stuff for me, there were the fires that were going on out west where my home is, new situation, there was frustration from injuries and then holding myself accountable for not playing to the expectation that I had coming into the season. So there was just a ton of stuff that was weighing on me that, going into next year I'll kind of be free from a lot of those and alleviated from a lot of those. And so I do expect a better season, I expect a better turnaround for myself, for this team… The expectations that I just set for myself and playing for a passionate team, a passionate fan base, I think this is a place that you win and you want to win and they expect you to win, so the real challenge was just, with everything going on, was trying to remain in that moment of going on the court and leaving everything outside, outside and kind of just focusing on what I had to focus on. But I think that was probably just the biggest challenge for me was trying to just stay locked in with what was going on."
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