Paul George says on ’Podcast P’ his knee injury ‘won’t be a long timetable‘

The Podcast P with Paul George had a new look in its Season 3 premiere — filming remotely after Paul George’s move to Philadelphia. Although the podcast looks different, it still features the same hosts in George, Dallas Rutherford, and Jackie Long. Teammate Kelly Oubre Jr. was their first guest.

Before the Sixers tip off against the Milwaukee Bucks in their season opener, George discussed his preseason with the Sixers, his injury scare, and blending into the Sixers’ culture. Here’s everything you missed on the season premiere of the Podcast P …

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In a major free agency move, the nine-time All-Star signed a four-year, $212 million contract to join the Sixers. His scoring touch was on display during his preseason debut against the Minnesota Timberwolves — scoring a team-high 23 points, six rebounds, and two assists. George felt good in the 26 minutes he logged.

“I felt great that night,” George said. " I felt really good. It was good to get some rhythm with the guys out there. All camp though, I was playing horrible to my standards. I thought I played horrible to my standards of learning new concepts, learning new teams, learning how to be aggressive, how to be assertive.

“My whole thing was like let me see how to play off Tyrese [Maxey], let me see how to play off Kelly [Oubre]. Let me play off Caleb [Martin], [Andre] Drummond. I didn’t want to turn it into a P show the whole camp so, I’m trying to play within the team.”

George suffered a bone bruise when he hyperextended his left knee during his second preseason game in Atlanta.

The six-time All-NBA selection gave an update on his knee status in the latest episode of The Podcast P.

“It was crazy because like it was a normal play that I’ve made so many times,” George said. “I don’t know, my leg just went back and I was about to take off and I guess my leg just kind of got stuck. Like my leg literally just got stuck, I don’t even know what else to call it. My knee locked up. My leg locked up. And when I went to push off, like all my momentum is going forward and my leg it just caused it to go inward.

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“Immediately I was like ‘oh this don’t feel right. This don’t feel right.’ But then it was similar in terms of the bone on bone contact that I had in L.A. when I had that injury. It was similar to that but not as severe. I’m not too concerned. I was able to come back from that fine, totally healthy. So, I’m not too concerned with it.”

With George officially ruled out of the season opener, there is no timeline on his return. But according to him, it won’t be long.

“I’ll be back strong and better than ever,” George said. “It wasn’t nothing major. I didn’t damage a ligament, I didn’t damage a tendon. It’s literally just bone on bone bruising from a hyperextension. I’m going to be good. I should be back hopefully sooner than later but it won’t be a long timetable.”

Before George and Oubre were teammates, the pair had an interesting dynamic on the court. Both players admit they had their on-court battles in the past but there was never a serious issue.

“It was never no beef,” Oubre said. “It was just a young guy looking up to him, wanting to make a name for himself in the league. Obviously, you got to show well you know when you’re playing the best and he was always trying to sauce me up, as he should. So, you know the competitor in me, I probably did a little extra like the one move he did where he was skipping like Muhammad Ali, I didn’t move. I should have gotten out the way but my shoulder was like ah, I can’t let you move either. But there was never no beef. It was just all respect.”

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Oubre revealed the first thing he did when he saw George after the Sixers signed him was ask for a photo.

“I think the first thing I said was like ‘bro, can we take a picture so we can kill all this noise,’” Oubre said. “And it was just dead after that and now we’re on the same squad.”

The Sixers open their season Wednesday night against the Milwaukee Bucks at the Wells Fargo Center. Join Keith Pompey and Gina Mizell at 3 p.m. on inquirer.com/gamedaycentral as they preview the game, and the season ahead.