The season of the Philadelphia 76ers may be cursed.
Shams Charania of ESPN reported Thursday that Tyrese Maxey, one of the stars of the Sixers, is expected to miss “a couple of weeks” with a right hamstring injury.
Maxey injured his hamstring Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Clippers. He left the game at the end of the third quarter and was replaced by Jared McCain to start the fourth. The Sixers lost 110-98.
The start of the 2024-25 season has been deeply unpleasant for the Sixers. It started with an inquiry into how the Sixers loaded Joel Embiid, who was unable to start the season on time due to knee injury management. Paul George did not start on opening night due to a left knee bone bruise. Then Embiid was suspended three games for pushing a reporter who brought up his dead brother in a column that was critical of Embiid’s work ethic. (Embiid was also issued a technical foul this season from the rim, before he even stepped on the court.)
Now they are 1-6 with their only win coming in Game 3, a 118-114 overtime win against the Indiana Pacers.
What’s worse for the Sixers is that with Embiid and George out, they had to back Maxey very heavily in this opening stretch of games. Now he will be out of the picture for a few weeks.
On the positive side, the Sixers just got George back from his injury, and once he shakes off the rust, he will be able to help provide the backbone that Maxey was able to give this team. In addition, Embiid is expected to make his season debut next Tuesday against the New York Knicks. They won’t be at full strength, but having two of their stars back is much better than just one.
