NBA levies massive fine to 76ers for playing Joel Embiid

Joel Embiid returned to the court Tuesday in a big win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. Though he wasn't listed as such in the injury reports released closer to the game, the first injury report listed Embiid as "out," which led to the fine.

Embiid's status was changed to "questionable" a few hours before the game, and the team's medical staff cleared him after a series of workouts that day. Teams are required to update their players' injury status by 5 p.m. local time on the day before games, provided it's not a back-to-back, which can then be updated until game time. Apparently, the 76ers did not follow league guidelines with this week's reports. 

It's not the first time in 2024 that the NBA has fined Philadelphia over an Embiid injury report. On Feb. 1, the NBA levied a $75K fine for not updating Embiid's status for a game in Denver that he missed with a meniscus injury after being listed as available. They also cited Philly's history of violating injury report rules, as they did this time, to explain the size of the fine.

Some of the added focus on injury reports is due to the NBA's recent embrace of gambling. Injury reports are a way of making sure that player health is public news and not used as inside information to earn a gambling edge.

However, the 76ers seem to be manipulating injury reports as a form of gamesmanship against their opponents. Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone complained that his team had a "letdown" in January when they found out Embiid wasn't playing just minutes before the tipoff.

If a team messes with their opponents and the league's gambling partners, it will likely lead to a hefty fine. But it's probably not great for player-rest skeptic Adam Silver to punish a team because its star didn't sit out.