The Philadelphia 76ers made one of the biggest free agent signings in the league last summer. They inked Paul George to a four-year, $211 million contract, forming a star trio featuring him, former MVP Joel Embiid, and All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey. Injuries had a large influence on their season, but a 24-58 record made the 76ers a disappointing team.

George was the subject of the majority of fans' ire. His scoring dropped from 22.6 points per game in 2023-24 to just 16.2 points per game in 2024-25. The 6.4 points per game drop-off was one of the biggest in the league. Philadelphia fans found a lot of reasons to blame him for their season going poorly. More recently, they called him out for not spending enough time in the gym.

George addressed the comments on “The Pivot Podcast”, where he spoke with Ryan Clark and others about his work-life balance. He said that he is as deserving of leisure time as any fan is.

“I think people don’t understand that you can't physically be in the gym 24 hours out of the day, we’ve got to have a life too,” George said to Clark. “Y’all don’t’ work, not y'all but fans, like whatever your job is, y’all don’t work 24 hours out of the day. Y’all have leisure time, y’all have things you like to do, y'all got hobby's. How are you going to ridicule me, I’m in the one percentile of my work. I've showed you I work hard obviously if I’ve made it to this point, now why can’t I have a life aside from this job now.”
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George, Embiid, and Maxey all face pressure from the Philadelphia faithful to turn things around next season. The 76ers have the third overall pick in the draft, which they can use on an impactful rookie.
Regardless, fans will look to their stars to guide their team back into the postseason.