9-time NBA All-Star Paul George is Having an Underwhelming Season With the Philadelphia 76ers, All Thanks to a Tendon Injury

34-year-old Paul George is not having the best season so far. He was out with an extensor tendon injury in his left pinky finger for quite a while. And though he has been back and cleared for playing, his performance so far has not been great. He has been wearing a splint on the finger, but none of that has helped in bettering his performance so far.

Paul George's pinky finger injury has ruined the season for him

Ever since his extensor tendon injury that left him out of the team, and unable to play for quite a while, Paul George's performance has not been up to the mark. He was cleared for play a few weeks back and has been back on the court for the 76ers since, but his scoring average has been pretty low. In fact, in the recent match between the Philadelphia Sixers and the Brooklyn Nets, he had the season-worst performance, with only two points scored.




After the match, he spoke to the press and talked about how the injury has hampered his performance on the court, saying:


"I mean, it is what it is. I’m going to have to always play like this [displays inability to move left pinky]. We’ve just got to work around it. You know, hopefully, the splint gets smaller and smaller, and the pinky has a little bit more range and mobility in it as opposed to just being in the air all game. So I doubt things will change in five games, but it is what it is again at this point."


He missed five games because of the injury, and after he came back, he has only managed to average 10.2 points and 2.8 assists per game. For a 9-time NBA All-Star that is not a good look.

Philadelphia 76ers head coach Nick Nurse deliberates after the latest game

With Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey out of the game, all eyes were on small forward Paul George. Even though his performance ever since he was cleared from injury hasn't been very good, fans were counting on him to take the Sixers to a win against the Brooklyn Nets, who rest a level below the Sixers in the Eastern Conference table. But somehow, that did not happen, and the Sixers ended up losing to the Nets 96-100. Head Coach Nurse spoke of George's performance during the game, praising him for his defensive skills, but admitted that offensively, it was not what they wanted.


"They did a lot of double-teaming on him, for one thing. So that limited some of his shot opportunities. I thought he had just a couple other ones that I thought maybe he would have pulled the trigger on as well. I just thought he was really giving good effort and playing, which is why I kept him in there. He was really good defensively. I know it's not offensively what we want to see, but he was plus-eight in plus/minus, so he was giving some great effort on D and playing pretty hard."


Scoring 2 points in 37 minutes is not what fans or even fellow teammates expect from an athlete of George's caliber. And although this whole season he has not been at his best, even before the injury; this is by far the worst bout of his career.


Also Read: Bronny James Earns Loads Of Good Words From Sixers’ Star Paul George: "He makes the right plays”

Stay updated on the latest sports news and discover how to watch ICC Champions Trophy live in Canada and the USA.