This past Saturday, the shorthanded Sixers got blown out by the Boston Celtics’ regulars in a preseason game. It was the first of two preseason meetings between the two teams as Philadelphia will host the Celtics this coming Friday in the preseason finale.
By now, it’s well known by sports fans everywhere that the Sixers and Celtics made the biggest trade of the NBA’s offseason this past summer in a move that saw Jaylen Brown go from Boston to Philadelphia and Paul George go the other way. Fans are
understandably excited about what Brown can do as a Sixer, but we wanted to take a moment to think about George and how fans feel about him.
The former Sixer was the team’s marquee offseason acquisition just two years ago in the summer of 2024. By almost every objective measure, his two years in Philadelphia were a failure and Sixers fans united in their jubilation not only to bring in Brown, but to wash their hands of the final two years of George’s massive contract. But, in case you missed it after Saturday’s preseason game and got caught up in more losing from the Eagles and Flyers on Sunday, George had this to say about his time in Philadelphia.
It did make me wonder, how is George going to be received when he plays a regular season game in Philadelphia in 2026-27 in front of a capacity crowd? Was George merely the biggest source of frustration for fans when it came to the job former President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey was doing or did fans truly dislike George? It certainly seems like George left Philadelphia on good terms with lots of the players in the organization.
Most fans knew Morey was rolling the dice when he unloaded the cap space that had been vacated by the expiration of the Tobias Harris contract and used it all on an aging George. Availability had been a concern for George before he arrived in Philadelphia, so the fact that he wasn’t always in the lineup shouldn’t have surprised anyone. Granted, his performance certainly dipped as well, but George did likely rebuild some of his trade value with a strong postseason this past spring.
As we prepare for the start of another season, George is gone and more importantly in the eyes of many Sixers fans, so is Morey. We’ll see if the Celtics can contend at a high level in 2026-27, but it feels like most Sixers fans have shifted their attention to the Knicks as the team’s biggest rival with both teams likely vying for the Eastern Conference championship this season.
Make no mistake, any Sixers fan that boos George this season when the Celtics come to town would certainly have every right to do so. George’s first season in Philadelphia was a disaster and his second season wasn’t much better until the playoffs. There was a lot more bad than good. But time heals all wounds and with what’s transpired over the last 5-6 months, dating back to some of those good playoff performances from George while he was still in a Sixers uniform, George’s lasting memory in Philadelphia was something we were thinking about.
He’s certainly not going to get any kind of standing ovation this season and we’re not suggesting that either. But Sixers fans, is this someone you’re going to boo vociferously this season or is he just another former Sixer whose tenure in Philadelphia maybe wasn’t as good as you had hoped it would be?
