Sixers star Paul George gives update on his health after loss to Hawks

PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia 76ers have only had Paul George for five games thus far in the 2025-26 season, but the 9-time All-Star continues to take steps forward as he works his way back from injury. George played a season-high 28 minutes in Sunday's loss to the Atlanta Hawks which is a big step for him.

In those 28 minutes, George went for 16 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and five steals. He gave Philadelphia a little bit of everything on the floor and that is going to be a big help moving forward. The NBA is all about versatile wings at this stage of the game and the Sixers will be looking for more from him as time moves on.

The key is going to be how he feels after each performance. The 35-year-old needs to continue taking care of his body at this stage of the season.

"I feel good," George said on Sunday. "I feel good. I asked for more minutes out there. Just how the game was going, how my body was feeling. Back got a little tight, but that's gonna happen. That was the most minutes I've kind of played consecutively. So, it's good, you know, it's nothing to be concerned with, but I feel good being back on the floor."

The back tightening is a natural thing when a player hasn't played that many minutes in quite some time. The big goal for George and the Sixers is to continue playing. He needs to get his treatment going on off days--such as Monday--and he needs to be able to prepare for the big moments later in the season.

"Again, I think it's just now, just try to get rhythm," George said. "The biggest thing is just trying to find rhythm, and trying to keep rhythm, and seeing where shots will come, and just put the work in now. I think I'm kind of the bird leaving the nest, getting to fly, flap my wings a little bit more, so it feels good to kind of be on the healthy side."

The Sixers have a chaotic schedule coming up as they play host to the Washington Wizards on Tuesday and then another back-to-back starting Thursday. They will host the Golden State Warriors before going on the road to face the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday. So, another 3-game in 4-night stretch. It will be interesting to see how Philadelphia handles him during this stretch before having a good stretch of games off from Dec. 8 through Dec. 11.

This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Sixers star Paul George gives update on his health after loss to Hawks