The Philadelphia 76ers can't seem to catch a break. In what should be a monumental first season for the new Big Three of Joel Embiid, Paul George, and Tyrese Maxey, Philadelphia has instead failed to get through a single week without some form of controversy rearing its head.
Unfortunately, the one player who seemed to be able to avoid that fate has now fallen victim to injury woes of his own.
Embiid missed the entire preseason and has thus far been absent from every regular season game the 76ers have played. George entered the preseason in good health, but he hyperextended his knee and was thus held out of Philadelphia's first five games of the regular season.
According to Shams Charania of ESPN, the one constant in the lineup will now be absent for several weeks after Tyrese Maxey suffered a right hamstring injury.
Just In: Philadelphia 76ers All-Star Tyrese Maxey is expected to miss a couple of weeks because of a right hamstring injury, sources told ESPN. Full evaluation coming later Thursday but sides are bracing for Maxey’s absence. Sixers will take careful approach with the injury. pic.twitter.com/sPxFnsylYF
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 7, 2024
With this new development, it's possible that the 76ers will be unable to debut their new Big Three until December.
76ers' Tyrese Maxey will miss multiple weeks due to hamstring injury
Just two games after George's highly-anticipated 76ers debut, the team is down its most reliably available star. The development also comes on the heels of the revelation that Embiid was suspended for three games.
Embiid will debut on Tuesday, Nov. 12 against the New York Knicks, but Philadelphia's Big Three will continue to remain an enigma for several games after that.
The silver lining is that the 76ers should have Embiid and George in the lineup on Tuesday. That All-NBA duo could help Philadelphia turn its season around and end the current slide that has the team at 1-6.
The unfortunate truth facing Nick Nurse and company, however, is that George will be the only star on the court against the 4-4 Los Angeles Lakers and 3-5 Charlotte Hornets.
The worst-case scenario is that the 76ers will be 1-8 by the time Embiid is back in the lineup. It's still early enough to recover from a potentially horrific start to the season, but the 9-0 Cleveland Cavaliers and 7-2 Boston Celtics are setting a pace that could be difficult to keep up with.
Even if Maxey returns in exactly two weeks, the 76ers will play six games over the next 14 days—and they're already attempting to catch up at 1-6.
Living in a hypothetical world won't get fans or Philadelphia any closer to a resolution, but the time to panic has arrived. Even once Embiid and George are back in the lineup, Nurse's controversial plan to keep them out of one leg of every back-to-back will be a factor.
The first back-to-back the 76ers will play in 2024-25: The days of and after Embiid's regular season debut. The team they play during the second leg: The 9-0 Cavaliers.