NBA fined the 76ers for injury report violation with Joel Embiid
Just 40 minutes before tip-off on Friday night, the Philadelphia 76ers confirmed that Joel Embiid would be available to play in the game after missing the first two games of the series due to a right orbital fracture and concussion that happened last Thursday during the Sixers’ Game 6 win over the Raptors.
Turns out, the NBA was not happy with the way the 76ers handled Embiid’s injury status and yesterday, the league announced that the Sixers have been fined $50,000 because they failed to disclose Embiid’s status in an “accurate and timely manner.”
Friday morning, a team official confirmed that Embiid cleared the NBA’s concussion protocol and participated in the 76ers’ shoot around, while still being listed as out for Game 3. The Sixers then upgraded Embiid to doubtful around noon, and kept Embiid with that designation throughout the day.
Embiid went through pregame warmups, wearing his protective masked and then was named as one of the starting players for the Philadelphia 76ers.
Honestly, I’m not sure where the fine comes into play. If you remember during the first-round series against Toronto, Gary Trent Jr., Thaddeus Young and Scottie Barnes played in games after being listed as doubtful.
Regardless, a $50,000 fine is essentially pocket change for the 76ers organization and I’m sure they happily sent a check right to the NBA. Embiid returned and flipped the second-round series on its head, posting 18 points and 11 rebounds en route to a 99-79 victory.
Game 4 tips off tonight at 8PM in South Philadelphia, as the 76ers look to even the series at 2-2 before heading back to Miami for Game 5.
