The 76ers were fined $100,000 for making false claims about Joel Embiid’s health

The Philadelphia 76ers were fined $100,000 by the NBA on Tuesday for making public comments that “didn’t match up with Joel Embiid’s health status and broke NBA rules, including the league’s Player Participation Policy.”

The league began an investigation because of its player participation policy, which was put in place last year in response to the frequent “load management” of star players. Embiid was held out of the 76ers’ nationally televised season-opening game against the Milwaukee Bucks because of pain in his left knee.

The league said in a statement on Tuesday that Embiid has not broken the rules because a review showed that he has a “left knee condition.”

But Philadelphia’s head coach Nick Nurse and president of basketball operations Daryl Morey said things before the season that weren’t true about Embiid’s health. The NBA didn’t give any proof of those claims.

The 2022–23 league’s Most Valuable Player was Embiid, who is 30 years old. However, he could only play in 39 games last season. After another disappointing playoff exit in which the star center wasn’t at full strength, Embiid said earlier this month that he would “probably never play back-to-backs the rest of my career” to protect his body.

Embiid and new 76ers player Paul George (knee) will both miss their fourth straight game on Wednesday when the Detroit Pistons come to town.