The NBA only cares about rules when they hurt Jokic, which tells you everything about how they view Joel Embiid

Here we go again. Same rule. Same league. Same media ecosystem. Completely different reaction depending on the name attached to it.

The NBA’s 65 game rule was never supposed to be about punishing stars who get hurt. It was sold as a way to curb load management and force teams to stop sitting healthy players for rest.

Play the games, be available, earn the awards. Simple enough. Except it was never treated as a crisis when Joel Embiid was the one getting squeezed by it. Now that Nikola Jokic might be the one on the outside looking in, suddenly the sky is falling.

Brett Sigel hates Joel Embiid and is nothing more than a rat.

just say the quiet part out loud😭 pic.twitter.com/WIYUw0gEcT

— N🎀 (@NahaliZolanski) December 30, 2025

Quick Note: Don’t get me started on the usual talking heads pushing the same tired agendas. Watching certain national writers obsess over Jokic while dismissing Embiid entirely tells you everything you need to know. The credibility gap is obvious. The bias is obvious. It does not move me anymore.

Let’s rewind for a second…

The 65 game rule requires players to appear in at least 65 games to be eligible for MVP, All NBA, and other major awards.

The league put it in place because fans were tired of paying to see stars sit, and because the NBA was struggling to get its best players to even show up for 80 percent of the season.

That part is real. The league has a participation problem. That is the actual issue.

When Embiid finished as MVP runner up twice and landed on Second Team All NBA, nobody cared. When he was playing the best basketball of his life in 2023 and 2024, averaging 36 points, 11 rebounds, and 6 assists before getting hurt, the rule was not a talking point. When he missed games, the response was basically tough luck.

Availability matters. End of discussion.

Now Jokic hyperextends his knee, misses time, and suddenly every talking head is tripping over themselves to explain why the rule is unfair.

Jokic is having a ridiculous season. Nearly 30 points per game, elite efficiency, leading the league in rebounding and assists. He has been durable his entire career. No one disputes any of that. Injuries happen. They always have. Historically, missing significant time has always cost players awards. The rule did not change that reality. It just put a number on it.

What changed is the reaction.

Now the argument is that the rule is too rigid. That it unfairly punishes legitimate injuries. That it might cost Jokic a fourth MVP and open the door for Shai Gilgeous Alexander. To be clear, SGA has been incredible and deserves every ounce of praise he is getting. Still, it is impossible to ignore how loud the outrage has become now that Jokic is the one affected.

Where was this energy when Embiid was getting cooked for missing games while playing through knee issues, back issues, and basically dragging broken rosters behind him?

Where was the concern about rigidity then?

There wasn’t any because the NBA Deep State absolutely hates The Process. They hate the man who represents it and the entire ideology around it. They always have. The NBA hates Joel Embiid, how he plays, how he talks, how he does not fit neatly into a box.

For those of you too stupid to understand, Joel Embiid is not a traditional center.

He is not a clean analytics darling either. He is a generational talent who breaks the framework the NBA is desperate to to sell, all while being forged in what is now a league-wide issue with tanking. The NBA reacts by moving the goalposts and changing rules, all while rewriting narratives to pretend it is all neutral and objective.

This is the hypocrisy that drives Sixers fans insane.

The rule was never a problem when it impacted Embiid. Now that it might impact Jokic, the media wants to rewrite the rules in real time.

That tells you everything you need to know.

The awards do not matter nearly as much as the league pretending they do. The NBA’s real problem is that fans cannot trust stars to play. That is why the rule exists. Not to protect MVP narratives. Not to crown the right guy. To get players on the floor.

If Jokic misses the threshold, it will suck. It will feel unfair. It will also be exactly what happened to Embiid multiple times, with far less sympathy and far less noise.

Joel Embiid over his last five games, by the way, looks like this:

• 34 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists
• 31 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist
• 27 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists
• 22 points, 14 rebounds, 2 blocks
• 39 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists

When Joel Embiid plays the way he has over the last few weeks, there really is nothing left to argue. You are either paying attention, or you are choosing not to.

The NBA did not change overnight. The bias just got louder.

THEY HATE THE PROCESS

Here’s the reality check moment I’ve been talking about for years.

I am repeating myself at this point but I do believe it’s important, so we’re going to explain it yet again.

This isn’t new. This is exactly how it has always gone with Joel Embiid and The Process. The basketball world didn’t slowly turn on him, it never really accepted him in the first place.

When Embiid is mentioned nationally, it is almost always framed through criticism, doubt, or some tired narrative about what he is not, while completely ignoring what he is. Meanwhile, the Sixers organization has failed him repeatedly, his supporting casts have rotated endlessly, and the burden has always landed back on him.

From day one, there has been an unspoken pact with Embiid. You ride with him or you don’t. The injuries have made it harder, the losses have made it exhausting, and the hope has taken plenty of hits along the way.

None of that changes the truth, so I will say it again and again until people start to understand.

When Joel Embiid is healthy, there is not a better basketball player on the planet. Not one. The league does not know how to deal with him because he does not fit their boxes. He is not a traditional center. He is not some clean, marketable archetype. He is a generational talent with an edge, a personality, and a style that makes people uncomfortable.

They do not just dislike Joel Embiid. They dislike what he represents. The Process.

The patience. The defiance. The refusal to play the game the way they want it played. That is why the rules change. That is why the narratives shift. That is why the grace extended to other stars disappears when his name comes up. You can see it clearly now.

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