NBA to Investigate 76ers After Joel Embiid’s Return From Injury

The NBA is expected to investigate the Philadelphia 76ers after Joel Embiid returned from injury to the Sixers’ lineup on Tuesday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder. On Monday, it was originally reported that Embiid was “nearing a return and could play as early as Tuesday,” per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium.

“I’ve spoken to multiple people inside the NBA league office, and we should expect some sort of investigation into how the Sixers handled the injury report, going from out, out, out, to questionable, to playing in a short span of time. The league office will certainly take note of that,” Jared Greenberg said on NBA on TNT.

“Joel Embiid is officially playing and starting tonight.”
@JaredSGreenberg reports live from Philly with the latest on Joel Embiid’s return to the starting lineup! pic.twitter.com/S59WJCYN0B

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 2, 2024

Embiid had “positively completed multiple five-on-five scrimmage sessions in recent days,” Charania posted Monday on X. The seven-time All-Star underwent surgery to repair the torn meniscus in his left knee on Feb. 6.

The Sixers’ return timetable for him was 6-8 weeks. Eight weeks out from Feb. 6 was April 2.

NBA fined Philadelphia 76ers $75,000 in February for an injury report violation involving Joel Embiid

Although NBA insiders reported that Embiid would likely return Tuesday, the Sixers still listed the 7-footer as out on the injury report all day until 5:49 p.m. ET, then upgraded him to available just over an hour later.

For the purpose of sports betting and teams avoiding gaining a competitive advantage over opponents, this is against NBA rules. The Sixers were also fined $75,000 in February for an injury report violation with Embiid.

Philadelphia was fined after Embiid went from not being on the injury report to “out with left knee soreness” for a nationally televised game on Jan. 27 against Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets.

Joel Embiid has been in Philly for a long-time and knows exactly what the fans expect out of him 😤

“When you have fans like that behind you that are also passionate it just makes you want to play through anything, because that’s Philly.” pic.twitter.com/jPkqnBs5LM

— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) April 3, 2024

The 76ers received a larger fine because of prior violations of this policy. However, the league said that Embiid’s injury was a confirmed existing one — meaning the team was not in violation of the player participation policy.

Prior to his injury, Embiid was averaging a career-high 38 points per 36 minutes. That’s the most points per 36 minutes in any NBA season in the shot clock era since 1954-55.

NBA Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain is second. At the age of 25, Chamberlain averaged 37.4 points per 36 minutes in 80 games played in 1961-62.

With six games left of the regular season, the Sixers are 41-35 and rank eighth in the Eastern Conference standings. Philadelphia trails the seventh-place Miami Heat (42-33) by 1 1/2 games.