After the Philadelphia 76ers suffered their ninth straight loss on Wednesday night, falling 110-105 to the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden, Paul George provided an explanation on his recent decision to put his podcast on hiatus. George reportedly wants to shift his focus into “trying to get this team together.”
“It was more so just to focus on here,” said George, who had 25 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists in 42 minutes against the Knicks. “I haven’t been the healthiest, so it’s just been putting a ton of work towards getting my body as healthy as possible, and to keep focus of obviously being here and trying to turn things around here and the full focus is trying to get this team together.
“But we got to give ourselves a chance. Take it one game at a time, but we got to give ourselves a chance to see what we can do down the stretch.”
Paul George announces that he will be load managing his ‘Podcast P’ episodes for the time being to help the 76ers make a championship push, via @PodcastPShow.
“I want to let the Podcast P family know that after today’s episode with Dwight I plan to take a break from the pod just… pic.twitter.com/XOqsrn99ql
— APHoops (@APH00PS) February 26, 2025
Wednesday’s loss was a step in the right direction for team morale compared to Monday’s drubbing by the Chicago Bulls in Philadelphia, where the 76ers trailed by as many as 50 points.
George released his last episode of “Podcast P with Paul George” earlier that morning. After that game, George said the 76ers have “shown no sign of a team that will compete. We just don’t have the habits a champion, or playoff contending team, would have. … To be honest, right now it’s a little far-fetched.”
Paul George Decided To “Take A Step Back” Regarding His Podcast After The 76ers Dropped Their Ninth Straight Game
Perhaps the Sixers could have had a better season had George made his podcast announcement after he signed his four-year, $212 million deal with the team during the offseason. Even then, injuries are another factor. George’s 25 points at New York were his most since posting 30 in a win against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Jan. 24.
“It was something that was kind of racking in my head a little bit just because of [being] new to the city, being acclimated to Philadelphia,” George said. “It just came to the point where it was like, ‘All right, this is the time to kind of take a step back for a second.’”
In 39 games (all starts) with the 76ers this season, George is averaging 16.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.8 steals, and 32.4 minutes per contest while shooting 43.2% from the field, 35.8% from 3-point range, and 81.1% at the free throw line.
Since the Brooklyn Nets lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the 76ers remain in the sixth spot in the NBA’s draft lottery, and 2½ games back of the Chicago Bulls for the 10th and final play-in spot in the Eastern Conference.
