For the masochists out there, here’s a scary proposition for the books — the Philadelphia 76ers will heavily rely on Paul George next season.
That wouldn’t be such a bad idea though, right? This is Paul George, a nine-time All-Star and the perfect prototypical modern NBA forward. The 76ers, which parade Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey as their best players, would most certainly benefit from having someone like that round out their big three.
Hold your horses. We are in the year of our lord, 2025.
Last season, George was an absolute trainwreck. Aside from missing exactly half of the season (or 41 games) due to his knee injuries, he was a shell of his All-Star self when he did lace his sneakers up. For the season, he averaged just 16.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 4.3 assists on a subpar 43 percent field goal percentage and 35.8 percent success rate from rainbow country.
To make matters worse, he was only a year removed from tallying a slew of career-highs as a shooter during his last season with the Clippers. Without a shadow of doubt, he has declined a ton, and the timing of the situation as he is only in the initial phases of his 76ers stint makes it even grimmer.
Now, he just got a well-deserved humbling thanks to (drum roll, please) NBA 2K.
Paul George gets ultimate disrespect after ugly season with the 76ers
Some player ratings for the latest iteration of the NBA 2K series, NBA 2K26, were released just recently, and George most definitely got one of the steepest drop-offs in the league compared to what he got a year ago.
George got an “81” rating, putting him in the tier of players such as Bobby Portis, Aaron Nesmith, Onyeka Okongwu, and Josh Hart, among others. Clearly, 2K views him as a role player at this point in his career, and in all honesty, it is difficult not to share the same sentiment.
With the nine-time All-Star already suffering a new injury before the 2025-26 campaign even kicks off, it is a bit unrealistic to expect George’s numbers and production spike to his usual levels once again. He is also not getting any younger, both in actual and functional age.
The Philadelphia 76ers are reeling from the effects of their drastic decision last summer to sign Paul George to a max deal. And to add insult to injury, the NBA community is not shy from rubbing it in their faces.