CAMDEN, N.J. — The Philadelphia 76ers have been able to piece things together in the 2025-26 season despite players being in and out of the lineup at the moment. The Sixers are still working through guys like Paul George and Joel Embiid returning from their respective left knee injuries, but they have been able to play some good basketball.

George, especially, has begun looking like himself as of late. The 9-time All-Star scored 35 points and knocked down seven triples on nine attempts in Sunday’s tough loss to the Atlanta Hawks and is shooting a robust 43.3% from deep on the season. He has been productive for the Sixers and the thing that stands out the most is he looks happier after a miserable 2024-25 season.

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“It’s great,” rookie VJ Edgecombe said of seeing George play so well. “I’m a rookie, so it’s my first time getting to see it up close, but he looks really good, man. He’s very helpful to us. You could tell he’s in a good head space, also, which is very important being there mentally. We’re all human beings. We have a lot of different expectations put on us, different pressure put on us, so to see him in a good mental headspace, man, it means a lot.”

George stated after the loss in Atlanta that he feels much better mentally when considering how tough the 2024-25 season was for him. That mental side of things is so important and it doesn’t get enough attention when a player has something of a resurgence the way George has had for Philadelphia.

“You just got to care for people as a human being in general, but like I said, you can tell he’s moving like how he normally did,” Edgecombe added. “I tell him he ain’t jumping yet. He can’t jump no more. I tell him all the time. He ain’t the same athletic Paul George. I tell him all the time. I ain’t see him dunk yet.”

While Edgecombe teases George about his lack of athletic ability from his younger days, Justin Edwards is just happy to see him playing well. He claims it’s something he expected, but the 22-year-old forward grew up watching George so he knows what he’s capable of.

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“I kind of expected it, honestly,” said Edwards. “Just watching from what he did last year and this year, and that’s the P—I was saying this to somebody on the bench that that’s the P that I grew up watching. That’s something that I expect.”

George and the Sixers will get back at it on Friday when they take on the New York Knicks on the road.

This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Younger Sixers talk what Paul George has been able to do on the floor