NBA to investigate Philadelphia 76ers over Joel Embiid’s playing status
Sign up now: Get the biggest sports news in your inbox
Philadelphia 76ers centre Joel Embiid will miss three NBA games at least due to left knee injury management.
PHOTO: REUTERS
DeeperDive is a beta AI feature. Refer to full articles for the facts.
LOS ANGELES – Joel Embiid’s planned absences for the Philadelphia 76ers’ season opener and their next two games caught the attention of the National Basketball Association (NBA), which will likely begin an investigation this week, ESPN reported on Oct 23.
Embiid, a former league Most Valuable Player (MVP) with a history of injuries, missed the pre-season due to what the team described last week as left knee injury management “in an individual treatment plan designed to best support his health and wellness for the 2024-25 season”.
The veteran centre was then ruled out on Oct 23 against the visiting Milwaukee Bucks, a game the Sixers lost 124-109, as well as for the Oct 25 game at Toronto and the clash at Indiana on Oct 27.
It is typical for the NBA to review the situation when a superstar player misses a nationally televised game, in line with the league’s player participation policy, ESPN reported.
Embiid, 30, is heading into his ninth season after he averaged 34.7 points and 11.0 rebounds in just 39 games last campaign while undergoing surgery on his left knee for a meniscus injury.
The seven-time All-Star returned to action and hobbled through the play-offs. Then he played for gold medal-winning Team USA at the Paris Olympics in the summer.
He recently said it is probable that he will never play in back-to-back NBA games again to manage wear and tear on his body.
“If I had to guess, I would probably never play back-to-backs the rest of my career,” Embiid told ESPN.
He also said he dropped around 12kg in the off-season to help take pressure off the knee. He will continue to wear a brace on the left knee.
“It’s the right thing to do, and the right thing that’s going to give me the support for the rest of my career,” Embiid added. “For me, it’s a mental thing. I hated it. (But) I started telling myself, ‘OK, I have to do it, that’s the only way they’re going to let me play’.”
Embiid, who did not play for two seasons because of a foot injury after he was drafted in the first round in 2014 by Philadelphia, has averaged 27.9 points with 11.2 rebounds in 433 games for the Sixers. He was MVP in the 2022-23 season.
When asked about Embiid’s status, Sixers coach Nick Nurse said: “He’s in practice, he’s looking good, he’s progressing. He’s not quite ready yet. He’ll be ready pretty soon.” REUTERS
