NBA schedule is rough on one veteran team

The Sixers are one of five NBA teams who will play 16 games on zero days rest in the 2025-26 season. They also might be the NBA team least-equipped to deal with the grind of back-to-backs.

Before last season, Sixers center Joel Embiid announced that he "would probably never play back-to-backs the rest of my career." The 76ers also committed to resting 2024's big free-agent signing, Paul George, on back-to-backs to start the season.

George didn't play in his first back-to-back until Dec. 21 last year, the team's 27th game of the season. He ended up playing in just four back-to-backs in all of 2024-25, suffering an injury in one of them on Jan. 25 that caused him to miss the team's next five games.

Embiid (31) and George (35) are a year older, and it's hard to argue that they're healthier going into this season. George had arthroscopic surgery on his knee in July, while Embiid is still recovering from his own knee surgery in April. For a team that is largely returning the same roster that went 24-58 last season, those are two huge unknowns, especially when their reinforcements are two rookies in VJ Edgecombe and Johni Broome and second-year guard Jared McCain, who is also recovering from a knee injury.

For now, head coach Nick Nurse doesn't know if Embiid and George will be available for training camp. He may have to assume they'll be unavailable for 16 back-to-backs, meaning the team could be frightfully thin in the front court. Without Embiid, the team has to rely on players like Andre Drummond, who missed 42 games last season, or young centers Broome and Adem Bona. George is the presumptive power forward, meaning the Sixers will have to use someone like Trendon Watford or a natural small forward like Kelly Oubre or Justin Edwards.

Back-to-backs aren't easy for any NBA players. For the Sixers' old and brittle core, they're making what looks like a challenging season even more difficult.