“Left knee injury management.”
That is the official, listed reason that Joel Embiid has sat out the entire Philadelphia 76ers preseason and will not play Wednesday night when the Sixers season officially tips off against Milwaukee in a nationally televised game (he is out for two more games over the weekend, also).
Does the 76ers’ reasoning violate the league’s player participation policy? The NBA is going to investigate, reports Shams Charania of ESPN.
This is a lot of sound and fury, signifying nothing — as long as Embiid is legitimately injured.
It’s not hard to imagine he is. Philadelphia announced Embiid would be out the first week of the season as he continues to deal with a sore left knee, something that has plagued him (and he has played through) since he had surgery on the meniscus in his left knee last February. He returned for the playoffs but was clearly slowed by knee soreness — even if he averaged 33 and 10 — and that continued through the Paris Olympics. He has not been cleared for 5-on-5 scrimmages, coach Nick Nurse has said.
Under the league’s player participation policy — which is focused on ensuring star players don’t sit out nationally televised games — Embiid would have to play against Milwaukee unless the “team demonstrates an approved reason for a star player not to participate in a game.” An injury is an approved reason. The 76ers medical team should have no problem meeting that threshold.
The word “management” likely has sparked the debate — it implies Embiid could play, but the team is playing it safe. 76ers GM Daryl Morey has admitted the team will play it safe with both Embiid and Paul George this season with both being held out of most if not all the team’s back-to-backs, but Philly is not on a back-to-back and Embiid is missing multiple games, not just this one.
Embiid, George and Tyrese Maxey have yet to take the court together through the preseason. While on paper the 76ers are a legitimate threat to Boston at the top of the East, it would require that big three to be healthy and have built up real on-court chemistry — something Boston showed on opening night it is overflowing with.
That’s what 76ers fans need to worry about more than a league investigation — can this team stay healthy enough to get near its potential?
