The Sixers center Joel Embiid is currently at the forefront of NBA discussions. As a top contender for the MVP award this season, his recent injury has sparked debates about his potential disqualification from both the individual award and a spot in the All-Star team.
Following extensive media scrutiny for missing the Nuggets game, Embiid reportedly forced himself into action and now he might be paying a big price.
Joel Embiid has suffered a torn meniscus
Joel Embiid was seen struggling with his knee injury during the match with Golden State Warriors. He was seen limping, but things got worse when Jonathan Kuminga landed on his knee, and it was clear that the 29-year-old couldn’t bear the pain.
The Sixers lost the match by 119-107 after the defending MVP carried himself out of the court. According to the team, Embiid has a “small lateral meniscus tear”. The Philadelphia 76ers HC, Nick Nurse said, “He felt like he wasn’t quite playing like his normal self, but he felt like that was more rust and rhythm than it was anything else.”
BREAKING: Joel Embiid has a torn meniscus, via @ShamsCharania pic.twitter.com/onn78CkO29
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) February 2, 2024
In fact, Embiid was in the starting lineup against Warriors before fully recovering from his previous injury.
The Philadelphia 76ers, having lost four consecutive games, are facing a challenging period and are in dire need of their star player to improve their standing from the fifth position in the table. Embiid has missed 13 games already and might lose his chance of winning the MVP this season due to the 65-game rule. With return timeline unknown, it is indeed a worrisome situation for Sixers fans.
NBA fines 76ers $75K for not reporting Joel Embiid injury
When it rains it pours. Things don’t look good for the Sixers in the recent times as NBA has imposed a fine of $75,000 on the team for failing to include Joel Embiid on the team’s injury report in the match against Denver Nuggets.
According to Tim Bontemps of ESPN, “Embiid was listed as out for Friday’s game as late as noon Friday — even after being cleared from the NBA’s concussion protocol and participating in the 76ers’ morning shootaround.”
Although the protocol was cleared, he missed two matches against the Nuggets and the Blazers which led to a lot of scrutiny. As per the press release “the fine takes into account Philadelphia’s prior history of fines for violating injury reporting rules.” Back in 2021 they were also fined $25,000 for not putting Ben Simmons on the team’s initial injury report against Nuggets which he did not play.
The Sixers have been fined $75k for violating injury reporting rules with Joel Embiid against Denver on January 27. pic.twitter.com/bQSOiJSt7I
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) February 1, 2024
To crack down on load management practice of the teams, NBA implemented the 65-game rule policy this season, but Draymond Green lashed out putting the blame on the rule itself for Joel Embiid’s current health condition.
Embiid, who has been scoring 35.3 points per contest this season, seems down and out of the MVP race for good. Now all eyes will be on Sixers to see how they’ll plug the Joel Embiid-sized hole in the team.
