Inside Sixers: Paul George’s resurgence, VJ Edgecombe’s ‘home’ game, and more from a winning road trip

WASHINGTON — Paul George leaned back against a refrigerator inside Capital One Arena’s visitors’ locker room, and talked about the “mindf—” of when the body cannot perform what the basketball mind is processing.

“Sorry for the language,” George told the media scrum. “But it is a mindf— when you mentally can see yourself doing things, and you physically can’t do it. That’s the hardest part, I think, for an athlete that goes through injuries and their body’s rejecting them.”

That is how George, once a perennial All-Star and stalwart on both ends of the floor, has felt for the bulk of his nearly two seasons as a 76er. His tenure has been interrupted by multiple injuries and, most recently, a 25-game suspension for violating the NBA’s anti-drug policy.

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Yet the 35-year-old George has kept his word that the nearly two months away from games helped his knee heal. His 39 points in Wednesday’s 153-131 victory over the lowly Wizards was his highest-scoring game as a Sixer. In the four outings since his return, he has attacked more off the dribble, scored at all three levels, and gone on shot-making sprees. Coach Nick Nurse also shouted out George’s defense against the Wizards, while George echoed that end of the floor is his stretch-run emphasis with six games remaining.

“That’s been really what unlocked me to kind of play free,” George said of his time away. “ … Feels like I’m back to myself.”

And that comes at an ideal moment, with the 42-34 Sixers still in the thick of a playoff chase.

They had a chance to go 3-0 on this road trip, but fell apart in the final minutes of a loss at the Miami Heat on Monday. Two days prior, however, the Sixers pulled off a thrilling comeback win at the surprising Charlotte Hornets. The Sixers also turned the tide on a Wednesday that began in bizarre fashion, when the team ruled Joel Embiid out of the Wizards game with an illness, then Embiid took to social media to refute the report, then president of basketball operations Daryl Morey confirmed that Embiid would not play.

The night ended with George calmly relishing his performance and road back to this level of play. And with Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe joking during a joint media session that, after totaling 10 assists, the rookie is now “PG1” — as in point guard, not Paul George. And with the Toronto Raptors, Orlando Magic, and Heat all losing, the Sixers moved into the Eastern Conference’s sixth seed, thanks to the division-record tiebreaker over Toronto.

The Sixers were set to hop on a 29-minute flight back to Philly for a tough four-game slate: A home back-to-back against the Minnesota Timberwolves and Detroit Pistons, before consecutive road games at the San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets.

Until then, here are some more scenes from the winning road trip:

The concourse of Miami’s Kaseya Center prior to Sixers-Heat was full of fans wearing Edgecombe jerseys and T-shirts. During timeouts, Bahamian flags waved from the stands. And any time Edgecombe scored, huge roars erupted from the bowl.

Edgecombe was not surprised by how many people made the trip for his first NBA game in Miami, a short plane ride from his native Islands. That’s who the Bahamian people are, the rookie said.

“They’re going to cheer for their own, at all times,” Edgecombe said. “Regardless [of] where you are, who you are, you’re from the Bahamas. They’re going to have your back.”

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Those supporters witnessed an up-and-down night for Edgecombe. He totaled 11 points and four assists in the first half. Then he was called for four personal fouls — and a technical for arguing with officials — in the third quarter alone.

But after the game, Edgecombe spent more than an hour wading through the stands to greet as many of the fans who came to see him as possible.

Because he used to be that kid, rooting for the Heat and trying to model his game after franchise icon Dwyane Wade.

“It felt like a home game,” Edgecombe said. “ … It’s just love. It’s a lot of love.”

Peek inside Jabari Walker’s locker, and one is likely to spot a book with a bright blue cover.

It’s called Chop Wood, Carry Water: How to Fall in Love with the Process of Being Great, about a boy named John who is training to become an archer. His sensei imparts lessons about process and patience, which Walker said “translate tremendously” to basketball and life.

“It puts my mind in a right place,” Walker said before Wednesday’s win in Washington, “and just teaches me how to attack things differently, and not see things as something negative but a way to improve.”

» READ MORE: From Nigeria to the NBA: Adem Bona’s journey from soccer-crazed kid to Sixers energy boost

It is the second time Walker has read the book, after an initial recommendation from his mother. He may read it five more times, because “there’s so much in every page.” He had reached a section Wednesday reminding that “comparison is the thief of joy.” It also has examples of positive self-talk, which he is now implementing into his morning routine.

Those tactics could be particularly applicable right now for Walker. Though the reserve forward’s production this season got his two-way contract converted to a standard deal, he has slipped out of the rotation as the Sixers have gotten healthier.

“I’m getting things [on the second read] that I never got before,” Walker said.

» READ MORE: Sixers mailbag: Potential playoff rotation, rebounding issues, and life as a traveling beat writer

While chatting about Chop Wood, Carry Water, Walker drew attention to the bag that had been sitting on his locker chair. It contained three more books that he picked up at a store near the Sixers’ team hotel in Washington: Thinking Sideways, Think and Grow Rich, and The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F—.

Walker might not get to those until the offseason, he acknowledged. But they are part of his recommitment to reading after realizing how much time he spends on his phone.

“I’m like, ‘That’s not going to allow my brain to grow to the best it can be,’” Walker said. “I like just exercising my brain. Sometimes, I force myself to read, because it’s so easy to just scroll [on your phone] and get things handed to you.

“But then I realize, every time I’m done reading, I’m like, ‘Dang, I needed that.’”

One person impressed with the charged Spectrum Center environment for Saturday’s game in Charlotte? Kelly Oubre Jr.

The Sixers’ veteran wing spent two seasons with the Hornets, including the 2022-23 season when he averaged a career-high 20.3 points. But that came in the middle of Charlotte’s nine-year playoff drought, which could finally be broken this spring.

So after Saturday’s Sixers win, Oubre said he is “super proud” of the Hornets’ dramatic turnaround into one of the NBA’s best stories this season.

Oubre has fond memories of his time in Charlotte, because it is where he became a father. He also still has a home in the area near a lake. Whenever he returns for a game, he stops by “just to check out all the drawers and smell the air in there.”

“Then just kind of relax and reset,” he said.

That also made Charlotte a fitting place for Oubre to make his return from an eight-game absence due to an elbow sprain. He totaled nine points and five rebounds in 28 minutes.

The most newsworthy recent NBA development was the Chicago Bulls’ release of Jaden Ivey, following his homophobic comments about the league’s Pride nights and a series of religious rants during Instagram livestreams.

Though no Sixers were asked specifically about this topic in the immediate aftermath, George brought Ivey (and former Sixer Markelle Fultz) up when asked about how he handled recovering from multiple serious injuries.

“That’s a perfect example of someone I feel for,” George said of Ivey, who broke his leg and had knee surgery within the past year. “ … I’ve lost some things, but kind of was able to return back into myself. For a guy like Jaden Ivey, a guy like Markelle Fultz, they weren’t able to kind of be themselves again after their injury.

“It affects you mentally, when you know that and basketball is who you are at that early stage in your life.”