Joel Embiid and Paul George spoke to reporters after practice Friday, but neither will play Saturday vs. the Grizzlies.
Another day, another medical update from the Philadelphia 76ers. Joel Embiid talked to reporters for the first time in nearly a month, and he announced that he will not play Saturday against the Memphis Grizzlies. Paul George has also been ruled out for Saturday by the team.
The Sixers added that both players were able to participate in full at practice, including 5-on-5 scrimmaging.
Embiid said that he does not want to put a date on his return, as the situation is fluid and based on how he responds every day, but does think “it should be soon”.
“It’s unpredictable — you can have good days, you can have bad days,” he said. “So I think it would be kind of foolish for me to sit there and be like, ‘Oh, I’m playing on Tuesday’ when we don’t know.”
He also mentioned that as a reason he wasn’t sure if he would be ready for the season opener last week.
He added that he did not suffer a setback in the Olympics, but rather ramping up for an 82-game season and playing 30-40 minutes a night is much longer than playing 10 minutes a night for Team USA.
George spoke to reporters as well, saying that his left knee feels good, but he’s simply building up his cardio and conditioning at this point.
George told reporters that he would be traveling with the team for its upcoming West Coast swing.
This road trip includes a homecoming for George, as they play the LA Clippers next Wednesday. That’s sandwiched between a trip to Phoenix on Monday and a matchup with the Lakers on Friday. Maybe PG’s first game this season will be at the Intuit Dome, as the Clippers always imagined.
George certainly knows his audiences. When detailing how close he was to a return:
“The time will come,” he said, “as cliche as it is, his words are you got to trust the process.”