While Joel Embiid and Paul George are not yet ready to play in a regular season game, their participation in a full practice with their team, the Philadelphia 76ers, indicates positive progress. Both players are suffering from left knee injuries, which prevented them from playing in the fifth consecutive league game, which took place against the Memphis Grizzlies. The 76ers will face the Phoenix Suns in an away game on Monday. The NBA fined the 76ers $100,000 for failing to properly communicate players’ health conditions. Embiid has played a significant 434 games in his career with the 76ers, while Aaron Gordon, who was selected immediately after Embiid in the 2014 NBA Draft, has already played 669 regular season games and 52 playoff games. Embiid, who earned MVP honors in 2022-2023, expressed frustration with speculation surrounding his readiness. “I’ve done too much for this city to be treated like this,” he said after training at the team facility in New Jersey. His injury history includes meniscus surgery in February 2016. Still, the center averages 27 over his career .9 points and 11.2 rebounds per game. Paul George, who joined the 76ers as a free agent in July, was recently cleared to play contact games. After averaging 20.8 points and 6.3 rebounds per game over his year-long NBA career, he is now focusing on fully building up his fitness so that he can be back on the court soon.
