Howard Eskin has never had a problem calling it how he sees it when it comes to struggling Philadelphia sports teams. So when Philadelphia 76ers head coach Nick Nurse brought up the team’s bad luck with injuries this season following their loss on Monday night to the Portland Trail Blazers, Eskin weighed in on what he believes has caused the 76ers’ struggles this year.
Monday’s loss for the 76ers marks the organization’s tenth loss in the last 11 games. With star center Joel Embiid officially being ruled out for the season with a knee injury and Paul George potentially set to be shut down, there appears to be very little hope for any kind of turnaround to potentially sneak into a play-in spot in the Eastern Conference.
Unfortunately, Monday’s game was worrying for 76ers fans for more reasons than just the end result. Tyrese Maxey, who has already been playing through a hand injury, exited Monday’s game with a back injury after suffering a hard fall in the third quarter.
Tyrese Maxey, who was already playing through a finger injury, appeared to hurt his back on this play.
Maxey was slow to get up and off the floor, did so with the help of medical staff and went right back to locker room. pic.twitter.com/auTLA8XGip
— Erin Grugan (@eringrugan) March 4, 2025
After the game, reporters were greeted by a clearly dejected Nick Nurse, who questioned when or if the “injury bug” will stop affecting the 76ers.
“I’ve always been really hopeful that things are going to balance out,” said Nurse. “That at some point, the injury bug will leave us. And it just doesn’t seem to, right? It’s disappointing first and foremost for the players. It’s been a lot. Not easy to deal with. But like I told the guys, we played some really good basketball at times tonight. We gotta shake it off and get out of here as quick as we can. Get there and rest up tomorrow, and figure out how we can get out there and play tomorrow.”
Eskin took notice of Nurse’s comments, voicing his thoughts on how Nurse’s “woe is me” explanation for the 76ers struggles go far beyond just the injuries the team has suffered in his eyes.
“Monday Night, another ugly Sixers loss, and the HC with the woe is me about injuries,” wrote Eskin in a post on X. “Just so Nick Nurse understands, every team in the NBA has injuries. The Sixers knew Joel Embiid going into the season was not likely to play more than half the games. Paul George was out with ‘soreness’ in his groin against Portland. 60% of players play with soreness. George in 4 of his last 5 years, the number of games has been in the 50s. This season that will happen again because he takes nights off. Tyrese Maxey is the only tough injury on Monday, but he has been shooting poorly. Stop with injury excuses. It’s just a horrible team.”
Monday Night another ugly #Sixers loss and the HC with the woh is me about injuries. Just so Nick Nurse understands every team in the #NBA has injuries. The #Sixers knew Joel Embiid going into the season was not likely to play more than half the games. Paul George was out with… pic.twitter.com/WrCNrfUuKN
— Howard Eskin (@howardeskin) March 4, 2025
Maybe Eskin does have a point when it comes to the long-term health of both Paul George and Joel Embiid. It is hard to be all that surprised about either player dealing with injuries thus far this season considering the fact that both players missed considerable portions of the year just a season ago.
Still, it is interesting to see Eskin calling out Nurse again this season, which has become a trend this season after previously speaking out about how Nurse wouldn’t update 76ers fans about Embiid’s health at the beginning of the year.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.