NBA Punishes Sixers for Controversial Injury Reporting on Joel Embiid

The Philadelphia 76ers have been hit with a fine on Friday.

Apr 4, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) drives past Miami Heat / Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports

As expected, the Philadelphia 76ers are hit with a fine for the way Joel Embiid’s return to action played out earlier this week.

In a press release, the NBA announced that the Sixers will have to pay a $100,000 fine for violating league injury reporting rules.

According to the release, the Sixers “failed to accurately disclose the game availability status of Joel Embiid” prior to Tuesday’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

On Monday, the Sixers initially listed Embiid as out. Just a few hours before the start of Tuesday’s game, his status was changed to questionable, despite the big man missing the morning shootaround session.

After going through multiple pregame workouts, Embiid was cleared for action against the Thunder. It was his first game back since the Sixers’ January 30 loss against the Golden State Warriors, where they lost Embiid to a meniscus injury late in the fourth quarter.

Embiid decided to undergo surgery to “correct” his meniscus injury. As a result, he was expected to miss around eight weeks of action. His recovery-period led to a 29-game absence. While he was initially expected to miss 30 games in a row, Embiid checked in for nearly 30 minutes against the Thunder on Tuesday.

Unfortunately for the Sixers, the way his return played out will result in a fine. According to the NBA, the Sixers' prior history of fines for violating injury reporting rules was taken into account. The Sixers were hit with a similar punishment back in February.