The Philadelphia 76ers entered this season as one of the presumed NBA title contender heavyweights. Instead, at the time of this writing, they are just 2-11, with Tyrese Maxey openly calling out Joel Embiid’s lacking leadership in a recent team meeting. Woof.
But in case you thought Embiid was the 76ers’ only issue, it sure seems like they might have a Paul George problem, too.
In a snippet from a recent episode of George’s podcast, Podcast P with Paul George, George openly complains about JJ Reddick telling the Los Angeles Lakers to double-team him during a 116-108 win over the 76ers on Friday, November 8.
Why was George frustrated by the double-team strategy?
Because, and I’m not making this up, George said he was still on a minutes restriction from an early-season injury. He didn’t appreciate the extra-hard competition because he was concerned about getting back into a good rhythm and flow rather than seeing his life on the court get more strenuous against a team trying to, you know, win.
C’mon, man. That’s a loser mentality if I’ve ever heard it:
PG was NOT rockin' with JJ Redick sending double teams at him 😂 pic.twitter.com/d06sG2cB1P
— Podcast P with Paul George (@PodcastPShow) November 14, 2024
Honestly, what did George expect? Both Embiid and starting point guard Tyrese Maxey didn’t play in that game against the Lakers. So of course George — a nine-time All-Star — will get double-teamed to ideally get the ball out of his hands. Los Angeles owes absolutely nothing to George’s or the 76ers’ vision for his injury recovery.
The Lakers are trying to win a game. Period.
And George complaining about it after the fact is very telling about his mindset. Based on the laughing emoji in his podcast’s promotional tweet for the snippet, you can assume he thinks that saying this in public is funny and “viral,” too. (Hey, it worked to get this article out there, didn’t it? Just probably not what George intended).
Buddy, admitting you were bothered by an opposing team taking you seriously because you didn’t want to compete that hard is a problem in any context. Especially when your team is nine games under .500 in mid-November. Now was not the time for that kind of humor. No one was going to laugh.
Because the 76ers reside in the miserable Eastern Conference, all their dreams of a good season with their new big three remain intact.
But when I see their MVP-caliber center getting called out by teammates only a few weeks into the year, followed by another supposed team “leader” complaining about competition, I feel pretty comfortable asserting they won’t turn anything around.