Report: 76ers are subject of ‘likely’ NBA probe into Joel Embiid’s game participation

The NBA is “likely” to launch an investigation into the Philadelphia 76ers regarding the participation of center Joel Embiid, ESPN’s Shams Charania reports.

The report doesn’t note what rules the 76ers may have violated, nor specifically what the potential investigation would focus on. It also doesn’t note the potential consequences if a violation is found.

The report dropped hours before Philadelphia’s regular-season opener against the Milwaukee Bucks. Embiid and his new All-Star teammate Paul George have both been ruled out for the game. Embiid’s been ruled out without a specific injury designation for what the team describes as “left knee management.”

George suffered a bone bruise with no structural damage in the preseason. His absence is not expected to be long-term. Embiid is returning from a season in which he missed 43 games, most of them with a late-season injury to the meniscus in his left knee that required surgery.

Why isn’t Embiid playing Philadelphia’s season opener?

Embiid returned from the injury in time for Philadelphia’s first-round playoff series against the New York Knicks that they lost in six games. He then played for Team USA in Paris during the Summer Olympics. He sat through the preseason with the 76ers citing “left knee management” and will miss Philadelphia’s season opener. He does not have an injury designation beyond knee management.

General manager Daryl Morey said recently that he doesn’t anticipate Embiid or George playing in many back-to-back games, if any.

Head coach Nick Nurse was asked on Tuesday about the plan to rest Embiid and why Embiid’s not going to play on Wednesday against the Bucks despite not having a specific injury designation.

Are the 76ers violating NBA policy?

The NBA implemented rules in 2023 targeting the load management practice of resting star players when they’re not injured. Teams are subject to fines for various violations of the policy that include prohibiting teams from sitting multiple star players in the same game when they’re not injured and resting star players during nationally televised games. Philadelphia’s game against Milwaukee on Wednesday will be televised on ESPN.

Embiid, a seven-time All-Star and the 2023 NBA MVP, has been plagued by foot and knee injuries throughout his career. He missed the entirety of his first two seasons with injury after being selected third overall by the 76ers out of Kansas in 2014.

Since then, he’s played in 51 games or fewer in four of the eight seasons that he’s played. He’s never played more than 68 games in a single season.