Paul George Taking A Break From Podcasting To Focus On Winning A Championship
Paul George had a big announcement on his most recent podcast. He is taking a break from podcasting. Why? Because he wants to focus on competing for “a championship.”
“I want to let the podcast P family know that after today’s episode with Dwight I plan to take a break from the Pod just to focus on getting my body right getting mentally right and you know help this squad make a a push towards our goal to finish the season out give ourselves a chance to be in contentions to compete for a championship”
Winning a championship he said. He is taking a break, to help the 20-37 Sixers, win a championship. The team that was just down 50 in a game vs the Bulls.
It is great that he is taking a break to focus on the team. But read the room, Paul. The Sixers are not winning a championship. They may not even make the playoffs. Right now fans are hoping they end up with a top 6 pick, or even the top pick. The Wells Fargo Center is empty. The vibes around the organization are at an all-time low.
Paul George Not Living Up To His Contract
The Sixers paid Paul George a lot of money this off-season, and he has not even come close to living up to it. He had 2 points in a game without Tyrese Maxey or Joel Embiid. He only took 7 shots in that game. They signed him to help keep the team afloat on nights when Joel Embiid can’t play. There have been even more nights where that is the case this season than usual, and he has not lived up to the bill.
George is beat up too, and is reportedly receiving regular injections to be able to play through the pain, but it is not helping. He is not helping the team.
This whole statement from him just reads as tone-deaf. The effort has not been there from anyone on this team. It is the biggest disaster the franchise has ever seen. And Paul George is out here doing publicity stunts like taking a break from his podcast to act like he is trying to help the team. It reads like something a parody NBA account would put out.
Listen To Or Watch ‘The Best Show Ever?’ Live On The 97.5 The Fanatic And On NBC Sports Philly From 2 To 6 p.m. every Weekday
10 Best 76ers Moments in NBA All-Star Weekend History
10. Mac McClung Wins Slam Dunk Contest (2023)
The Slam Dunk Contest isn’t what it used to be when Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins battled for the attention of the basketball world.
The NBA attempted to revitalize the competition in 2023 with an outside the box idea: inviting a dynamic G-Leaguer.
Mac McClung of the Delaware Blue Coats earned a bid for the annual tradition, and the Sixers signed him to a two-way contract just days beforehand.
The competition’s wild card came out firing and put Nate Robinson to shame. He jumped over an adult with a child on his shoulders in his first opportunity.
McClung kept the highlight reel running with reverse dunks, windmills, and even some reverse windmills. His reverse spinorama stunned the crowd at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City and won him the championship round.
While the idea of a G-League participant sounded like a gimmick to a lot of fans at first, McClung carved out a legacy in NBA All-Star Weekend history with a proud showing for the Sixers.
He repeated as the Slam Dunk Contest champion in 2024 after leaving the Blue Coats.
9. Allen Iverson Wins Rising Stars MVP (1997)
The Sixers scored big in the 1996 NBA Draft selecting Allen Iverson first overall. However, a high-schooler farther down the draft board challenged the top pick in the Rising Stars Game during their rookie seasons.
Kobe Bryant helped build his NBA profile with 31 points in his first of many memorable All-Star Weekend appearances, but Iverson’s Eastern Conference team pulled away with a tight 96-91 victory.
Iverson finished with 19 points in 26 minutes and earned MVP honors.
Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images
7. Michael Jordan's Unforgettable Blooper in Philly (2002)
The First Union Center hosted its first and only NBA All-Star Game in 2002. Iverson and Dikembe Mutombo represented the defending Eastern Conference champions in a proud moment of exposure for the franchise.
The game’s most memorable moment wasn’t as proud. An aging Michael Jordan returned to the NBA with the Washington Wizards beginning in the 2001-02 season.
A man who retired as the greatest player in NBA history certainly doesn’t need any All-Star Game highlights to validate his legacy. However, he could’ve done without this awkward blunder.
6. Iverson, Dr. J Commemorate Kobe Bryant (2020)
One of the greatest basketball players in history played his high school ball at Lower Merion in the Philadelphia suburbs.
Kobe Bryant died tragically in a helicopter crash on January 26, 2020 just three weeks before the NBA All-Star Weekend festivities celebrating the league’s 75th anniversary.
Commissioner Adam Silver acted swiftly to rename the All-Star MVP in commemoration of a player tied with Bob Pettit for the most All-Star MVPs in history with four.
Sixers legends and multi-time All-Star MVPS Allen Iverson and Julius Erving fittingly took part in the ceremony to honor Kobe Bryant at United Center in Chicago.
Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images3. Andre Iguodala Slams Home Weekend's Best Dunk (2006)
Most basketball fans can tell you that Nate Robinson won the Slam Dunk Contest three times. A 5-foot-9 champion was an interesting novelty after 5-foot-6 Spud Webb had won the third dunk contest in league history in 1986.
However, Robinson didn’t deserve his first Slam Dunk Contest title in 2006.
Second-year sleeper Andre Iguodala won the Rising Stars MVP at All-Star Weekend in Houston, and he threw down the most impressive jam of the weekend. Philadelphians still wonder how he didn’t win the Slam Dunk Contest in 2006. It shouldn’t have been particularly close actually.
His veteran teammate Allen Iverson was the perfect counterpart. The aging Sixers legend bounced a pass off the backboard that Iguodala took under and up for the jam.
Yes, he went under the backboard and still reached the rim. The laws of physics nearly prevent it.
Robinson repeatedly missed his dunk attempts in the final round, but he used one of his many do-overs to jump over Spud Webb. The idea of the winning dunk was significantly better than the dunk itself.
Judge Kenny Smith deliberately changed his score to rob Iguodala of his rightful title as the Slam Dunk Contest champion.
Philadelphia loyalist Charles Barkley pointed out the injustice of his TNT counterpart on the live broadcast as the crowd let out a loud chorus of boos.
1. Allen Iverson Carries East To Comeback in MVP Performance (2001)
The 2000-01 season was one of the most memorable in Sixers history. Months before a trip to the NBA Finals, the Sixers also stole the show at the All-Star Game in Washington D.C. at arguably the most competitive All-Star Game in NBA history.
Larry Brown patrolled the sidelines for the East in a season when his upstart Sixers had taken the league by storm.
The West jumped out to an early lead that looked insurmountable in an exhibition game without the highest pitch of intensity. They extended the advantage to as many as 21 and entered the fourth quarter with a 19-point lead.
Iverson and the East clawed back. Some big shots from Vince Carter and Stephon Marbury aided Iverson’s first of two All-Star MVP performances. The game’s best players took the final minutes as seriously as fans can reasonably expect, and the East ultimately escaped with a victory thanks to a 41-21 surge in the fourth quarter.
Iverson dropped 15 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter in close proximity to his hometown of Hampton, Virginia. He fueled the memorable comeback with the aggressive drives to the rim that made him one of the most entertaining players in 76ers history.
Brown must’ve taken notice of Dikembe Mutombo’s performance for the East at the All-Star Game. The Sixers acquired the 7-foot-2 center two weeks later for a memorable playoff run.
