The absences of Joel Embiid (left knee injury management) and Paul George (left knee bone bruise) are the largest Sixers storyline leading into the team’s opening-night matchup Wednesday vs. the Bucks.
In the case of Embiid, the NBA may reportedly want to take a closer look.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that the league is “likely to begin an investigation later this week into the Philadelphia 76ers surrounding the player participation” of Embiid.
On Tuesday, a Sixers official said Embiid “is responding well to his individualized plan and is expected to ramp up his return to play activities this week.” According to the official, Embiid will not play this week and is set to be re-evaluated this weekend.
Embiid suffered a left lateral meniscus injury last year. He came back for the tail end of the regular season and the playoffs, where he averaged 33.0 points and 10.8 rebounds in the Sixers’ first-round series loss to the Knicks. His summer included earning an Olympic gold medal with Team USA basketball.
At the Sixers’ media day on Sept. 30, Embiid emphasized taking whatever steps are necessary to be healthy in the postseason. Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said Tuesday that he’s had no setback.
“I don’t know what to say to you,” Nurse said when asked about Embiid's ramp-up plan not having him ready for opening night. “He’s in practice, he’s looking good, he’s progressing. He’s not quite ready yet. He’ll be ready pretty soon.”
NBA
The NBA has previously fined the Sixers multiple times for injury reporting violations related to Embiid.
Ahead of his April return last season, the Sixers initially listed Embiid as out and then upgraded him to questionable approximately two hours before tip-off. The league fined the Sixers $100,000 in that instance, citing both a failure to “accurately disclose the game availability status of Embiid" and “the 76ers' prior history of fines for violating injury reporting rules."
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