Philadelphia 76ers Practice Media Availability 🎙️ | Paul George | 12.10.25
How do you balance like if you have a bad shooting day, right? How do you balance? How do you strike a balance of that between getting to your spots and knowing that, okay, I just miss open shots, you know, or the process wasn’t good, you know? How do you how do you reconcile that, you know, kind of mentally? Um, not getting to your spots or just missing shots. So, all right. So, Joel goes four for 21. Yeah. Like, but he got to all of his spots. just missed open shots. How do you, you know, how do you kind of Yeah, I mean that that’s that’s part of it. You know what I mean? That’s part of it. That’s why the game is percentages. You know, no one’s making 100% of their shots. Um, and very rarely people miss 100% of their shots. So, um, it’s just part of the game. You know, those looks were all great looks, shots we want Joel to take, the shots I’m sure he was comfortable with. Um, it just, you know, how the ball went that night. Um, but I mean that that’s the game. He’s been working on his his game. He’s been working on his rhythm, his timing. He’s been putting the extra work in. Um, so, you know, we expect him to, you know, be on the reverse side of that. U, but it’s it’s the game, man. It’s it’s it’s, you know, it’s how it goes sometimes. With that being said, this is now two games you’ve been able to play with on live obviously. You didn’t get too much time last year. curious. What’s kind of the next steps for you and him to continue to build chemistry and and such? Uh, I just keep at it, keep getting opportunities on the floor together, keep uh presenting healthy and everything else, you know, kind of just roll it out once we get on the floor and um just continue to keep logging minutes, I guess. Like what’s kind of been maybe your biggest takeaway like like so far of of the minutes with Yeah. Uh just you know obviously trying to be efficient, trying to you know understand still spacing and um key moments of of being aggressive, seeing where I can um you know kind of be aggressive um look for mine um but understand like you know he hasn’t played a ton either. So he’s trying to find his rhythm. He’s trying to get in the flow. Um and I think both of us you know on the court are trying to do that at the same time. So, more minutes, more understanding. He’ll know where I like like the ball when I’m aggressive and and and vice versa. The team’s taking a positive step forward defensively. And a lot of that has to do with obviously your continued appearance on the court. How are you feeling this team’s defense is kind of coming together and how much further do you think you guys can take it once Kelly comes back? Uh, we can take it a lot further. I think we’re a little ways away from where we need to be, but I think we’re getting there. Um, we’re making steps to be a better defensive team. Kelly obviously brings a lot. Um, you know, he’s still one of the best on ball defenders, one of the best helpside defenders. Um, and just that tenacity he plays with on the defensive end to get after it. Um, we’re going to get a lot once he comes back. Um, and then it allows us to kind of be a little bit more versatile with myself, with uh KO, with uh Barlo, um Quinton, you know, uh the four of us kind of taking the bulk of the defensive um you know, matchup. So, you know, we’ll be really good. Um but I like where we’re at. I think, you know, it’s a good thing to have areas to improve in when you when you are going in the right direction. these layoffs that you guys have four days off this week, four days off next week. Do you view it as a good thing? Because I think people generally welcome time off during the season, but also like you and I know Joel have both talked about wanting to be able to get on the floor consistently, wanting to get a rhythm, I guess. Do you view it as sort of bittersweet? Um, it is bittersweet, but you know, we’ve taken advantage of these days off. We’re in the gym today. We were in the gym yesterday. Um, so it hasn’t been off for us. Um we’re still putting the work in to kind of be prepared and be ready and get our bodies going and um you know trying to stay sharp. Um but you know it is bittersweet bittersweet especially for us trying to get into a rhythm into a game time rhythm where we start to come back and then there’s a break in between. But it’s good you know it’s good especially for the guys that have been playing um a ton of minutes for them to get some time away. Um, so you know, that’s where the sweet part of it comes in. When you guys have those like a session like today, like what are some of the things that you’ve pinpointed or what what are things that you’re able to sort of sharpen or sort of hone in on this when you’re in this type of a breather where you’re not trying to, I guess, prepare for a game? Yeah, I mean just, you know, for me personally, just working on, you know, ball handling, um, flow, rhythm, um, cadence, dribble, pull-ups, moves, counters, um, reps, shots, um, going through plays. Um, so a lot of that was kind of, uh, you know, I look at these as kind of mental days. Um, and uh, yeah, just kind of help my body just get more comfortable with those movements and, you know, stuff that I’ve been used to doing. Um, you know, just trying to rep it out with some live defenders. Um, just so it’s kind of muscle memory at this point. Is there a sense that, you know, is kind of wide open and there’s an opportunity for you guys if you got start, not start, but you know, do the right things over a period of time? Absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, you look at the East, it’s kind of clunky. Um, no one’s really pulled away yet. Uh, so we do have an opportunity to kind of write our future out uh from this point forward. Um, no pressure to the to the cause of it, but we do have a good opportunity to kind of take advantage of, you know, the standard. So, um, we can look at every game as as important if we want to make steps going forward. For sure. You mentioned guys that have been coming on. Obviously, Tiger is at the top of that list. Um, at various points in your career, you’ve also been a guy that’s, you know, been in the top five, top 10, and minutes playing. Have you talked to him at all about whether it’s in-game, off days, like basically how to sustain and like manage yourself throughout the course of the season? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He’s handled it great. Um, you know, I’ve talked to him um a little bit, some ideas that I think could help him off the court. um with recovering. Um so we we talked, you know, away from here on some things uh going forward. Um but he’s he’s handled it great. You know, he comes in, he gets his work, he take care takes care of his body. Um he does his recovery stuff, and then, you know, just mentally he’s just in a great place, you know. So, um him you don’t really have to worry about. He’s he’s going to do, you know, what he has to do. I call him a warrior, man. He he’s he’s he’s a warrior, so he’s he’s going to figure it out. He knows what to do. I know when you came here, you probably were well aware of what he was capable of as a player, but I guess what didn’t you know about him off the court, whether it’s stuff like that or his leadership in the locker room and what do you feel like you’ve learned about him since then? Yeah. Um I mean, I didn’t know much about him other than he was a good rising player. Um I knew the talent, the skill set. Um, but I didn’t, you know, obviously when we played him, James was here and James and Joel was the focal point. He was kind of third option. Um, so I didn’t know much about him, but um, being here last year obviously was blown away with how good he was, how mature he was, how, you know, instinctively a leader he was. Um, and then just watch him grow over this year, just how much better he’s gotten. Um, it’s kind of like the sky’s is the limit, you know. Um, I know the the crowd, the fans chant the MVP. Um, and I don’t think he gets enough credit uh to be in that conversation this year. Um, so more than anything, I think we as a team have to have his back and make those strides to get better as a team because he deserves to get on that platform. um with how he’s handled being the guy night in night out, guys in guys out. He’s still performing and and putting up big numbers. And more than that, you know, I think the defensive side, he takes the challenge, make big plays, uh tries to get stops, um tries to guard his position, which a lot of guys don’t do, especially more than than ever in this league. Um so he’s he’s you know, the the his future is very bright. Um, and you know, he’s just getting better and better every year. If I can follow up on on the defense because he made a major leap there last year and it seems like he has again, at least with his playmaking, I guess just what have you seen from him on the defensive end and how impressive is it again given like the workload that he has offensively? You talked about a lot of guys take plays off defensively now. I mean, just defensively, he just takes the challenge, you know. Um, and that’s all you ask for, you know, for anybody, whether you’re a good defender or you’re a poor defender, just take the challenge. Um, it’s why it’s a team sport. You know, not one guy can stop five people. You need a team to go out there and and and be great defensively. But you take the challenge, you got a chance. if each person individually takes the challenge to guard their guy and and help their their teammates, then you have a good, you know, you have the good foundation for a good defense. So, um, he’s taking that challenge on a nightly basis while being guarded by the best defender usually on a night night toight basis. Um and so I think that’s the biggest thing that that you know I think has pointed out to me is is just um he doesn’t look for you know a night off uh to go and sit in a corner and guard no one like he understands kind of the two-way of you know if I’m out here you know I’m going to get buckets and I’m going to stop whoever I’m guarding. Um, so he uh I I love that about guys that play both things, I guess, like just to go back to Barlo. Uh, what have we what have you kind of made of your minutes with him and what stood out to to you about him? Especially just him being like a two-way guy and Yeah, I mean it’s fun playing with Barlo, you know, he uh again defensively he’s he’s special. Um it’s fun being on the floor with Barlo. He can do a lot of things. Um and it makes it easier for me cuz we can switch a ton. Um he rebounds um block shots and uh you know he’s he’s I played with guys like him you know Nico um who was a ton of fun Nico Patun was a ton of fun playing with and it’s similar with with Nico you know Nico can go and guard and pick up guys 94 feet and he can switch one through five and um you know there’s just no defensive liability uh and that’s kind of how I feel about Barlo. This is kind of a silly off topic question, but in talking with a lot of the younger guys that sort of have like a nice little bond, they they often talk about the video games is how do they sort of stay in touch and and apparently you’re a part of that too, obviously. Um, just how does that help you connect with some of your younger teammates? Isn’t that a guy that’s considered a quote unquote veteran? Is what they’ll call. Yeah. Where your words, not mine. Yeah. Yeah. I’m I’m the uncle. Uh but you know it’s uh it’s it’s great to be able to relate you know on something outside of work. Um and so it’s you know as as fun as we have here in this building it carries over outside of this building where we can laugh, we can you know talk about you know life stuff, we could you know it’s just great to have that separation. Um, and um, you know, again, I think there is a space where you can open up and be vulnerable and be yourself and be comfortable doing something outside of basketball. Um, and so I think that’s where kind of the the the trust in the relationship is growing. Um, because whatever we talk about, we shoot the on the game. Excuse my language. Um, and but then it carries over the next day and we’re looking forward to seeing each other and um, we laughed about what happened the night prior and who sucked and who was trash. Um, and so it’s it’s, you know, it’s just it’s it’s a fun way and and you know, I think of for us just kind of expressing ourselves outside of uh, you know, the grind of a season. Paul, a guy like Jared, he can kind of spare Tyrese, VJ, Q, you get some of those extra minutes. We talked about that heavy workload. How important is he offensively to this team? Especially when you look at some of like third quarter struggles as a potential spark off the bench. Uh he’s very important especially for um a relief for Tyrese um you know and he’s he has that competitiveness spirit um or competitive spirit um that we need. He has that fire. we saw what he did last year, what he can do um with his shot making, his play making um and just his aggressiveness. Uh so it’s great when he’s firing when he’s getting his he’s starting to get his groove back. He’s starting to get his rhythm back. Um so he helps a ton. Um and he’ll be special for us. Um and so, you know, we’re just going to continue to keep supporting him, being behind him. Um and allowing him to kind of get through this, you know, kind of a rut that he’s had. And I get it. You know, he’s been out for a long time. he had a major injury. Um, and so his body is has to adjust a little bit, but he’s getting back to himself and he’ll be huge for us going down the stretch. Paul, in the community, you having hosted your uh holiday celebration again, why has it been important for you to keep it going in Philly? Uh, well, I mean, you know, it’s just being a part of this community, being a part of uh this this city. Um, you know, uh it’s just it’s my background being humble. Um, and just being a part of, you know, again, the community, you know, having my kids be a part of it, showing them what it’s like to give back to people that are less fortunate. Um, so it’s just kind of being grounded, um, while also teaching, you know, my kids of what it means to be in the position that they’re in and, you know, what good comes from their presence and and and, you know, their hearts opening up and uh, but, you know, it it’s special for me. You know, it’s special for me. Um you know I grew up with my parents being you know uh very religious people and um my mom will always tell me you know God is using you God is blessing you and that’s how I always look at things like you know if I got a chance to make someone today or make someone you know happy or put a smile on a family or interact with a kid um it cost me nothing but it’s it’s you know it’s priceless and it means a lot for them so um community work is just important to me continue to do it. Appreciate it. Thank you.
Paul George speaks to the media following a team practice.
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