Paul George’s start with the Sixers has a striking resemblance to his tenure in Los Angeles

On Sunday, the 76ers will fly to Phoenix around 11 a.m. before boarding team buses to Tempe for an afternoon practice.

Then after facing the Suns on Monday night, they’ll head to Los Angeles for a pair of matchups later in the week against the Clippers and Lakers. For George, the trip to Southern California will be a homecoming. Unfortunately, not much has changed for him since he left.

That’s because even though it’s a small sample size, the nine-time All-Star has the same injury bug that defined his last five seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers.

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George has missed the first five games of the Sixers’ regular season after hyperextending his left knee in an exhibition game against the Atlanta Hawks on Oct. 14. An MRI revealed that George avoided ligament damage and had a bone bruise.

But this comes after he didn’t make his Clippers debut until Nov. 14, 2019, after missing the first 11 games because of shoulder surgery. George went on to miss 127 regular-season games during his five seasons in his hometown of Los Angeles.

The Sixers gave him a four-year, $211.5 million maximum-salary contract in July with the hope that he’ll help lead them to their first NBA title since 1983. But to do that, he must remain healthy.

Asked how he was doing Friday, George responded: “Good. I feel pretty strong, and I’m [in] a good place right now. It’s been a great process getting to this point.”

He added that working on his conditioning is the reason he remained sidelined for Saturday’s 124-107 setback to the Memphis Grizzlies at the Wells Fargo Center.

But George played in just 48 regular-season games during his first Clippers season because of shoulder and hamstring injuries. Then during 2020-21 season, he appeared in 54 regular-season games because of ankle and foot injuries. The following season was a low point for George staying healthy. In 2021-22, he made just 31 regular-season appearances because of an elbow issue. Then he only played in 56 regular-season games during the 2022-23 season because of a sprained knee.

George turned things around in 2023-24 and played 74 regular-season games.

But that didn’t erase the injury-prone label during his time as a Clipper.

Perhaps that’s why he admitted to The Los Angeles Times in a 2023 article that his legacy was clouded with injuries.

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“My legacy here is I just haven’t been able to finish,” George told the paper at the start of last season. “I think in a lot of ways, injury prone, inability to finish. So can’t even say that — like, I never go into a summer like, ‘Hey, what do I need to work on to get better, what do I need to’ … I got to just try to find a way to stay healthy.”

Ditto for this season.

The 6-foot-8, 220-pounder, who’s in his 15th NBA season, knows he must remain healthy for the Sixers to be successful.

Joel Embiid, who’s also sidelined, is scheduled to miss several games this season because of load management. So it’s up to George and Tyrese Maxey to carry the load. And if we learned one thing so far, it’s that the Sixers are far worse without Embiid and George.

“It has been completely frustrating, just from wanting to finally get started with these guys and using these early games to kind of build and find chemistry,” George said of missing these early games.

He wanted to use these early games to get on the same page with teammates and help them jump out to a good start. Instead, they dropped a 1-4 after losing to the Grizzlies. While he’s not physically helping them, George has been engaged with teammates and helping from the sidelines during games and practices.

“And now, being able to be a full participant in practice, it’s just a next step in that phase,” he said. “I’ve been engaged throughout this whole process. So I don’t feel like I’m behind on anything. I’ve been keeping up with play calling, where I should be, watching multiple spots, so that when I am ready to go, I can hit the ground running.”

George also has been working on his cardio by doing sprints on the far court at the practice facility and running the arena steps at the Wells Fargo Center. He’s confident he and Embiid will elevate the Sixers offense.

And in what regard?

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“I think, from what I’ve watched so far, just being a passer, a playmaker,” he said, “and allowing guys to play off the catch a little bit more, where they’re more comfortable playing, being able to get downhill. I think just taking a lot of pressure off them mentally with having another scorer and another person that the defense has to account for.”

George also is aware of Embiid’s presence and how much of a focal point the 7-foot-2, 280-pound center is while on the floor.

“So we’re both going to add a lot of spacing and a lot of ease, especially with Tyrese [Maxey], who’s doing everything he can,” George said. “From my point of view, he’s working extremely hard, and I think that’s where I’ll kind of take that pressure off.”

His ability to do that while helping the Sixers win an NBA title is why he was their top free-agent target.

We should get a chance to see the impact he’ll make as Sixer in the soon. But this start, even though his injury could have been worse, bears quite the uncanny resemblance to his time with the Clippers.