The NBA is predicted to launch an investigation into Joel Embiid‘s absence from the Sixers‘ lineup this week to find out whether or not the workforce is violating the league’s participant participation coverage, based on Shams Charania of ESPN.
The player participation policy requires stars (outlined as gamers who’ve made an All-Star or All-NBA workforce prior to now three seasons) to go well with up for nationally televised video games. In the event that they’re held out of motion with out an damage or with out the league granting an exception, the workforce is topic to a nice.
The Sixers have already stated that Embiid will miss the primary three video games of the season, together with Wednesday’s house opener vs. Milwaukee, which is being nationally broadcast on ESPN.
Embiid handled a left knee damage final season and the Sixers have referred to his absence this fall (he additionally sat out the preseason) as “left knee damage administration.” Nevertheless, Embiid performed within the postseason and the Olympics, and head coach Nick Nurse advised reporters on Tuesday that the star heart hasn’t suffered any setbacks, so the league has questions on whether or not there’s legit trigger for him to be held out for the beginning of the season.
Main as much as the season, the Sixers have repeatedly and publicly made it clear that they’ll deal with Embiid extraordinarily cautiously this season within the hopes of getting him wholesome for the playoffs. In line with Charania, the membership’s plan is predicted to incorporate “periodic time without work throughout the common season and routine evaluations from docs and the 76ers medical employees.”
There’s sufficient wiggle room throughout the participant participation coverage (which additionally discourages groups from resting a couple of star in the identical recreation, continuously resting a star throughout highway video games, or resting a star throughout an in-season event recreation) for the Sixers to stick to its guidelines and nonetheless get Embiid loads of off-days throughout the season. Nevertheless, in the event that they wish to handle the previous MVP’s participation on their phrases moderately than the NBA’s, the 76ers might have to arrange to pay some fines.
Whereas Paul George has additionally been dominated out for Philadelphia’s common season opener on Wednesday, he recently sustained a knee injury that he’s nonetheless recovering from, so there’s no potential violation of the participation coverage there.
