October 23, 2024
Bill Streicher/Imagn Images
Joel Embiid did not play in preseason for the Sixers and will miss the team's first few regular season games.
The mystery surrounding Joel Embiid's left knee management appears to have caught the attention of the NBA.
The league office is expected to investigate whether Embiid and the Sixers are violating the league's player participation policy, Shams Charania of ESPN reported hours before the start of the team's 2024-25 regular season opener.
The NBA is likely to commence an investigation into the Philadelphia 76ers surrounding the player participation of All-NBA center Joel Embiid, sources told ESPN. More to come on NBA Today on ESPN right now. pic.twitter.com/WwZNHgLLcl
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 23, 2024
The player participation policy, implemented prior to the start of the 2023-24 season, was a response to the new wave of "load management" among star players in the NBA, a trend that has frustrated many who believe regular season games have become devalued. The policy was instituted in an attempt to prevent teams from sitting their most high-profile players without a reason related to some sort of injury.
Embiid, who inked a three-year contract extension worth $193 million over the summer -- tying him to the Sixers for up to five more seasons in all -- missed the team's entire preseason slate after not partaking in scrimmages during training camp. The team continues to say this is all about the management of the left knee that was aggravated during the 2023-24 season, including a two-month absence stemming from a meniscus injury.
On Tuesday morning, Embiid was ruled out through the end of the week.
“Embiid is responding well to his individualized plan and is expected to ramp up his return to play activities this week, including scrimmaging,” the Sixers said. “He will not play in games this week and will be re-evaluated this weekend."
As another part of the league's emphasis on availability, players must appear in at least 65 games to qualify for regular season awards. Embiid says he is ready to bypass all of the recognition that comes from those honors.
"There's no agenda," Embiid said at the team's Media Day last month. "There's no All-Star, no All-NBA. There's none of that."
As the NBA has continued its attempt to halt the growth of the load management strategy, Embiid and the Sixers have planned to be extremely careful during the regular season to ensure the 2022-23 NBA MVP is healthy when the playoffs arrive. Now, the two parties could clash.
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