The NBA has screwed the Philadelphia 76ers anew. Time and time again, the league has not shied away from manifesting its pronounced agenda against the franchise in its own way, and that trend seems to have spilled into the current season. Way to go, Adam Silver and company!
As first broken by ESPN’s Shams Charania, the NBA has handed down a $100,000 fine on the 76ers, apparently due to the team violating the league’s injury reporting rules during their recent game against the Atlanta Hawks when they initially listed Joel Embiid as “out” for that contest. As everyone knows, the superstar big man ultimately suited up for that matinee.
True enough, people did expect Embiid to be sidelined for that game, especially since he missed nine straight outings prior. In fact, the most recent injury update a few hours before tip-off still had Embiid listed as out against the Hawks, and the 76ers surprised many when they made the decision to activate him.
Still, this punishment poorly reflects on the league, not only for slighting the 76ers once again, but for strictly subscribing to a rule that has neither rhyme nor reason.
The 76ers bear the brunt of the NBA’s bizarre rule
For quite some time now, the 76ers have been among the most punished teams in the league for sitting players out due to load management. They have done it largely for Embiid, arguably the league’s most high-maintenance star, and the NBA has not been very magnanimous with that disposition.
That makes it all the more frustrating that the NBA is suddenly taking the hypocritical route when it comes to the approach teams adopt to prevent injuries. Now, when these players are all ready to suit up, the league suddenly drops the hammer?
League defenders will point to the fact that this injury reporting rule is precisely designed for tactical reasons aside from being a transparency mechanism, but it does not feel right when a team gets punished for last-minute changes to player statuses when health-related concerns are as temperamental as they can be and are often left to the hands of the experts.
What’s even more puzzling is that the 76ers did not even intend to fool the Hawks by suddenly mobilizing Embiid when he was initially listed as inactive. Embiid’s status has long been a day-to-day one, yet the league seems to have completely glossed over that fact and relied solely on the optics of the situation.
Do better, NBA. The 76ers are under delicate circumstances with its struggling star player, but you are making things unreasonable.