At this point, no one is penciling the Philadelphia 76ers as a threat anymore. The team has basically abandoned whatever remained of its hopeless winning cause, and with just a few games remaining on their schedule, all eyes are now on the tight race at the bottom of the East as teams continue to jockey for better position in the lottery.
Currently slotted at 13th place in the East, the 76ers are trying to maximize their odds to land a high lottery pick — a huge imperative given that they will only get to keep their own pick if it lands in the top-six. Otherwise, the Thunder will swoop in and take their own selection in what is anticipated to be an eventful draft class.
To help bolster their cause, Philly has finally decided to do the inevitable, which is to shut down their players. After doing do with Joel Embiid, it seems like Paul George is now next in line with Tyrese Maxey not far behind his All-Star companions.
However, it seems like the NBA is once again souring on them for doing exactly that.
The NBA is shamelessly showing its agenda against the 76ers once more
Shortly after it was reported that George is seriously considering undergoing surgery to fix his nagging knee issues, ESPN put out an article which bared a pretty fascinating tidbit.
Before it was quickly stricken out from the piece, people were able to capture that part of the article that said that the NBA has zoomed in on the absences of George and Maxey over the last few games.
Shams: "Multiple sources told ESPN the NBA has looked into the 76ers' recent absences, particularly over the past week with George and Tyrese Maxey (back) sitting out games."https://t.co/hxFmm6Wvbm
— Adam Aaronson (@SixersAdam) March 13, 2025
If so, the NBA is sending out another signal that true to the speculation of many, it has become a lot more particular with the 76ers when it comes to injury management — a blatant showing of partiality. Most teams are now sitting out their own players as the season winds down, and that Philly continues to get a bigger share of the adverse limelight is truly active bias against the franchise.
George has had legitimate injury issues this season. While that is not the sole reason for his steep decline, to gloss over that fact would be incredibly disingenuous. Nevertheless, the NBA seems to just skip over that reality. Ditto with Maxey, who has also missed games here and there due to actual, not imagined injuries.
That ESPN struck that part out quickly when it came from Shams Charania, who is nearly omnipresent in the innings of the league, makes it all the more suspicious. Was the league actually looking into the 76ers more surreptitiously?
This has been a frustrating recurrence that has put the Philadelphia 76ers into an ugly position in the public. They already have way too many naysayers who willingly evade reason to push their own agendas, and to see the league harp the same tune in their own, macerated way is all the more disappointing.