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Kendrick Perkins says Philadelphia 76ers have ‘no excuses’ for slow start to the season

Originally posted on HITC | By Jonah Kubicek | Last updated Jul 11, 2025 9:19 AM ET

Kendrick Perkins believes there’s no reason the Philadelphia 76ers shouldn’t start strong this season, especially in a weak Eastern Conference.

Last year’s playoff miss has made it easy to overlook just how talented this 76ers roster really is. They’ve got three All-Stars in Tyrese Maxey, Paul George, and Joel Embiid, VJ Edgecombe coming off a standout rookie season, Jared McCain who was a Rookie of the Year frontrunner last year, and solid depth with Quentin Grimes, Kelly Oubre Jr., Kyle Lowry, and Andre Drummond.

But as every NBA fan knows, talent on paper doesn’t always translate to wins. Injuries were a major issue for Philadelphia last year, and they finished with just 24 wins.

Kendrick Perkins calls out Sixers ahead of new NBA season

This time around though, the team needs to show something real. Expectations are sky-high now that everyone’s healthy again.

The East isn’t exactly stacked either. The Cavaliers look like the only real title threat at the moment. The Celtics have lost Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown is still dealing with injuries. Meanwhile, teams like Detroit and Toronto are in full rebuild mode.

If there was ever a time for Philadelphia to hit the ground running early in the season before others get healthy or make big moves at the trade deadline – it’s now.

Perkins: 76ers have no reason not to start strong

Missing out on the postseason gave Philadelphia an extended break, and with none of their players involved in EuroBasket, the entire squad has had a full summer to focus on fitness and preparation.

With that kind of time off, there’s an expectation that they should hit the ground running once the season begins. “They’ve been off since April, middle of April,” outlined Kendrick Perkins.

“So you’re looking at almost seven months. How in the f— they don’t go into the season into training camp healthy? Make that make sense. Like if you have seven months that you’ve been off, there’s no excuses. You have no excuses whatsoever than to come into training camp prepared.”

This is not to say that there aren’t any concerns over how this team will fare. After all, Tyrese Maxey has dealt with injuries over his first two seasons in Philadelphia, and Paul George is 34 years old now.

If those two can stay healthy alongside Embiid for most of the year though, it’s hard to see how this team doesn’t finish top three in the East.

Concerns remain over Embiid’s long-term fitness

Embiid, who has dealt with injuries since before entering the league, has played in just 53% of his possible 847 career games. When healthy, he’s still one of the top players in the game, but his availability has always been a concern.

He’s already said he won’t play back-to-backs again in his career. And while that frustrates some fans, it might be what’s best for both him and the team.

While Perkins wants him to come out strong this season, another former player thinks Embiid needs to take a more cautious approach as he manages the rest of his career.

“I don’t doubt that everyone’s going to come into camp in shape, but there’s still a level of management to his knee,” said Richard Jefferson. “That when he says he’s probably done playing back-to-backs or he’s not going to do it. That’s management!”

Jefferson played with Tim Duncan and a young Kawhi Leonard during his time with the Spurs. Leonard later became known for “load management,” which helped lead the Raptors to the 2019 title. Duncan also managed knee issues throughout his career by carefully managing his workload.

While Perkins wants Embiid pushing for another MVP award this season, many Sixers fans would rather see him stay under 65 games if it means being fully fit when the playoffs roll around.

This article first appeared on HITC and was syndicated with permission.

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