Paul George was suspended 25 games without pay for violating the NBA’s anti-drug policy, the league announced Saturday.
In a statement to ESPN’s Shams Charania, George said, “Over the past few years, I’ve discussed the importance of mental health, and in the course of recently seeking treatment for an issue of my own, I made the mistake of taking an improper medication. I take full responsibility for my actions and apologize to the Sixers organization, my teammates and the Philly fans for my poor decision-making during this process.
“I am focused on using this time to make sure that my mind and body are in the best condition to help the team when I return.”
George’s suspension began with Saturday night’s game in Philadelphia against the New Orleans Pelicans. When he is eligible to return — March 25 at home against the Chicago Bulls — the 76ers will have 10 regular-season games remaining.
The suspension will cost George roughly $11.7 million of his $51.7 million salary, or about $469,691.72 for each of the 25 games missed.
Before Saturday’s game, Sixers coach Nick Nurse declined to discuss details of his conversation with George after the suspension was announced. Nurse said he hadn’t noticed personal issues with George.
“I think he’s been fine,” Nurse said. “Really fun to coach. Really good teammate. His teammates really like him. Showing some great leadership.”
George, 35, is averaging 16 points while shooting 38.2% from 3-point range in 27 games this season. He has been part of a resurgent Philadelphia squad that has bounced back from last season’s injury-filled campaign to sit in sixth place in the Eastern Conference entering Saturday.
George, Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey have been on the court together for 365 minutes in 17 games this season, outscoring opponents by over seven points per 100 possessions.
ESPN’s Bobby Marks reports that Philadelphia will save more than $5 million in luxury tax payments as part of George’s suspension, leaving the team a little over $1 million over the threshold and making it easier for the 76ers to dip out of the tax this week without harming the roster.
After Saturday’s 124-114 win over the Pelicans, Embiid told reporters it would be “impossible” to replace George as the Sixers prepare to make a playoff push without one of their key starters.
“I know people have mixed feelings about what he brings to the table,” Embiid said. “You can’t replace it. (He) does everything for us. Defensively, probably our best perimeter defender. Offensively, can play so many roles. Knock down shots. Post up. Creation. Playmaking.”
The 76ers (26-21) are 16-11 when George plays and 10-10 when he does not this season.
“As with all our players, dealing with this kind of stuff, you care about them,” Nurse said. “We’re to help him. The organization is in any way possible. And try to get past it as soon as we can, get through it the best way we can, and then go from there.”
The San Antonio Spurs changed the start time for their home game Sunday against the Orlando Magic because of a snowstorm that prevented them from flying out of Charlotte on Saturday night.
San Antonio will now host Orlando at 6 p.m. CST on Sunday, three hours after the original tipoff.
The Spurs were scheduled to depart Charlotte following their 111-106 loss to the Hornets on Saturday, but flights were canceled as more than 9 inches of snow fell in the city. The winter storm had already forced the Hornets to move up Saturday’s game against the Spurs by three hours.
San Antonio was planning to fly out Sunday morning for the second game of a back-to-back set.
Orlando has been in San Antonio since Saturday morning after last playing Thursday in a home 124-97 home loss to Charlotte.
San Antonio (32-16) is third in the Western Conference behind Oklahoma City (38-11) and Denver (33-16).
NEW YORK — Cleveland Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson was fined $50,000 by the NBA for “aggressively pursuing, berating, and making inadvertent contact with a game official” during a game on Friday night.
The NBA’s head of basketball operations James Jones made the announcement on Saturday.
The incident happened after Atkinson was called for his second technical foul and ejected from the game with 10:59 remaining in the fourth quarter of a 126-113 loss to the Phoenix Suns.
Atkinson appeared to be upset about a no-call on Suns guard Collin Gillespie, who was aggressively guarding Sam Merrill on the perimeter.
The loss snapped Cleveland’s five-game winning streak. The Cavaliers play again on Sunday against the Blazers.
Kansas shooting guard Darryn Peterson and BYU forward AJ Dybantsa loom as the projected top two picks in the upcoming NBA draft. They are the precocious cream of what projects to be one of the best NBA drafts — particularly in the top 10 — in the past generation.
Who will be No. 1? ESPN polled 20 NBA scouts and executives to get an early vibe, and the results indicate that there will be a rigorous debate right up to June’s draft.
Peterson received 12 votes and Dybantsa eight for the top spot. With No. 13 BYU visiting No. 14 Kansas on Saturday (4:30 p.m. ET, ESPN), it will mark the first collegiate matchup between the two stars.
“It’s Darryn Peterson for me,” a veteran scout told ESPN. “He makes things look so effortless, it’s unbelievable. His shotmaking is unmatched. He’s the closest thing to Kobe Bryant I’ve seen since Kobe in terms of shotmaking and ability to create his own shot. He’s not the same athlete as Kobe, but no one is. He’s really special.”
Few of the scouts and executives polled indicated the choice was easy.
“It’s so close,” a veteran NBA executive told ESPN. “I’m saying 51% to 49%, just barely. I just feel like there’s a little bit more potential with AJ Dybantsa as a player who makes others better. But if you call me on March 1, I could tell you that I changed my mind.”
The NBA is descending on Lawrence, Kansas, this weekend for some additional empirical evidence.
At least 32 NBA front office personnel from 17 teams are attending the game, with seven general managers/decision-makers expected to be among them. (Also slated to attend is Atlanta Hawks owner Tony Ressler.)
Some teams are sending multiple scouts and executives, including a majority of the front office staffs of both the Hawks (five attendees) and Indiana Pacers (six attendees). Both the Brooklyn Nets and Washington Wizards are sending three reps.
Multiple NBA sources told ESPN that they are eager to see how Peterson looks after missing a game against Kansas State last Saturday with an ankle sprain. Kansas coach Bill Self has said he anticipates Peterson to play, and the injury has not been considered long term.
Peterson missed nine games over two separate stretches earlier in the season with a hamstring issue. With the ankle injury costing him a game, it means that he has missed half of Kansas’ games this season. He has also been managing a cramping issue.
“I don’t like the drama of playing and not playing,” said one scout, who chose Peterson as his No. 1 pick. “But he’s a scoring menace. He’s just a killer offensively.”
Dybantsa is listed at 6-foot-9 and 210 pounds. Peterson is 6-foot-6 and 205 pounds. It’s uncertain if they will often match up directly with each other on the floor Saturday, but they will certainly be compared and debated in the upcoming months.
The core of the debate comes to Peterson’s rare offensive upside against Dybantsa having more athleticism and two-way upside. Multiple scouts and executives mentioned having both Duke’s Cam Boozer and North Carolina’s Caleb Wilson in the conversation about the top pick, but none picked those players as their preference for No. 1.
One scout summed up his Dybantsa pick this way: “He’s the only one who has a chance to be elite on both ends.”
Another said about Peterson: “I think he can be a championship-level shot creator in the NBA.”
Peterson is averaging 21.6 points per game in 27.2 minutes. He is also averaging 4.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists and shooting an impressive 42% from 3-point range.
Dybantsa is scoring 23.6 points per game, snags 6.7 rebounds and dishes 3.6 assists. He has played in all 20 of BYU’s games and is shooting 31.8% from 3-point range.
No one is debating the talent at the top of this draft, as college basketball is having a freshman renaissance this season. This draft is both elite at the top and deep, with freshman stars such as Houston’s Kingston Flemings, Louisville’s Mikel Brown Jr., Tennessee’s Nate Ament, Arkansas’ Darius Acuff Jr., Arizona’s Koa Peat, UConn’s Braylon Mullins, Houston’s Chris Cenac Jr. and Illinois’ Keaton Wagler giving the sport an adrenaline shot of young talent.
“It is extra deep with high-end talent,” said a veteran scout. “This draft will hold up historically as one of the better ones in the last 20 years.”
We’re one week from the 2026 NBA trade deadline, with the market staying relatively quiet up to this point. However, there have been major developments across both conferences as we narrow the second half of the regular season.
The Oklahoma City Thunder have dropped five games this month — the same number they lost all season before the start of the new year. The previously invincible looking team now looks more human than before. However, it still remains at the top of the West, holding a six-game lead on the surging San Antonio Spurs.
In the East, the standings are still tightening, especially around the play-in positions. Back in the conversation are the Cleveland Cavaliers, who are climbing the conference standings, riding a four-game winning streak and looking more like the No. 1 team it did last season than the struggling troupe it has been so far.
As the Feb. 5 deadline approaches, our NBA insiders broke down where all 30 teams stand in the last power rankings of January.
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