NBA fines 76ers $100,000 for misleading statements on Joel Embiid health status

The NBA on Tuesday fined the Philadelphia 76ers $100,000 for public statements, "including by president of basketball operations Daryl Morey and head coach Nick Nurse, that were inconsistent with Joel Embiid’s health status and in violation of NBA rules, including the league’s Player Participation Policy," the league said.

Nurse last week said Embiid was “looking good,” and “he’ll be ready soon,” and the Sixers released a statement last week saying Embiid is “responding well to his individualized plan and is expected to ramp up his return to play activities this week.”

After Embiid missed Philadelphia’s season-opener and subsequent games – he hasn’t played in Philadelphia’s three games and won’t play Wednesday against Detroit – the league launched an investigation into his absence. The league also determined “that Embiid has been unable to play in the 76ers’ regular season games this season due to a left knee condition, and therefore his games missed have not violated the Player Participation Policy.”

The league’s player participation policy states that an automatic investigation is triggered when "a GM, head coach, or other team personnel (including team Governors or investors), a player, or a player representative makes a statement or other representation that contradicts the player’s status on the team’s injury report or as described to the league office.”

"We're going to be smart about it,” Morey recently told ESPN. “Part of being smart about it is having both Paul (George) and Joel probably not play many back-to-backs, if any.”

That is also contradictory to the league’s player participation policy which states, “League approval for this restriction would be based on the player’s prior serious or unusual injury history, and would only apply for a reasonable length of time as determined by the league office."

Embiid, the 2022-23 MVP  who a gold medal with the U.S. at the 2024 Paris Olympics, played in 39 games last season and was not 100% for the playoffs, including suffering from Bell’s palsy.

The Sixers were also fined $100,000 on April 5 for "violating league injury reporting rules. The 76ers failed to accurately disclose the game availability status of Joel Embiid prior to their game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on April 2. Embiid was listed as “Out” in Philadelphia’s initial injury report and subsequently played in the game.  The fine takes into account the 76ers’ prior history of fines for violating injury reporting rules," the NBA said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NBA fines 76ers $100,000 over statements about Joel Embiid's injury