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Tim Bontemps, ESPN
The Philadelphia 76ers announced that Joel Embiid and Paul George will both miss Wednesday’s season opener against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Embiid, who didn’t play in the preseason, will miss not just Wednesday’s game but also Friday’s game in Toronto and Sunday’s game in Indiana, despite the team saying he is “responding well to his individualized plan” and will ramp up his return-to-play activities this week, including going through scrimmages.
George will be reevaluated later this week after he suffered a hyperextended left knee that left him with a bone bruise Oct. 14 against the Atlanta Hawks.
The other injured 76ers player at the moment, rookie Jared McCain, will have his status for Wednesday’s game updated later Tuesday after he suffered a pulmonary contusion in a rough fall last week against the Brooklyn Nets.
Going back to the start of training camp, the 76ers have been up-front that they are going to take an extremely cautious approach with Embiid and George when it comes to trying to get them through the season healthy and to the playoffs. Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey told ESPN earlier this month that Philadelphia would try to keep both stars out of back-to-backs this season.
Embiid has lost 25 to 30 pounds, with the hope to lose more, and will continue to wear a brace on his left knee despite it being something that Embiid would prefer not to do, instead opting to keep it as structurally stable and protected as possible.
Embiid played in only 39 games last season due to knee injuries. He returned in time to play against the New York Knicks in the playoffs, but he did so at less than 100 percent — and that was before he was dealing with a sudden onset case of Bell’s palsy during the series. Embiid went on to play for Team USA this summer, helping the Americans win a fifth straight gold medal at the Paris Olympics.
George signed a four-year, $212 million max contract with the 76ers this summer after spending the past five years with the LA Clippers playing alongside Kawhi Leonard. Embiid signed a three-year max extension this summer to remain with the only franchise he has ever played for well into his mid-30s.
The 76ers also inked rising star guard Tyrese Maxey to a five-year max contract, re-signed veterans Kelly Oubre Jr. and Kyle Lowry, and signed free agents Eric Gordon, Caleb Martin and Andre Drummond.