The injury report is something that should never be messed with. Before every NBA game, teams are required to report which players are not going to play due to injury and which players are still on the fence about players. Against the Atlanta Hawks a few days, the Philadelphia 76ers initially listed star center Joel Embiid as out.
However, in a rather surprising turn of events, the 76ers eventually upgraded Embiid to “questionable”. Embiid ended up playing for the 76ers in their double-overtime loss to the Hawks. Now, the league has fined the team $100,000 for their actions, per Shams Charania.
“The NBA fined the Philadelphia 76ers $100,000 for violating injury reporting rules when they listed Joel Embiid as “out” against the Atlanta Hawks on Nov. 30 and he subsequently played,” Charania posted on X.
Embiid ended up playing just 30 minutes of the double-overtime contest. It was the 76ers star's first game back after missing three weeks due to a knee injury. He finished with 18 points on 6-for-14 shooting, but he sat out the second overtime of the game. The Sixers 76ers ended up losing 142-134 to Atlanta, with Tyrese Maxey leading the way for Philly with 44 huge points.
After the game, Embiid said that his knee felt good in his return. The 76ers star is just happy that he's back to playing.
“I thought the first half was pretty good,” Embiid said. “When it's been almost a month and you've only had about two court sessions, going up and down, it's going to be tough. I'm just happy that I got a chance to play the game of basketball, build on it and go from there. … I don't really judge myself based on shots falling. Tonight is all about how I moved laterally, jumping and all that stuff. Tonight was a good step towards that.”
