"NBA has 0 trust in the process" - Fans troll Joel Embiid as league launches investigation over potential violation of participation rules
The Philadelphia 76ers lost their NBA season opener at the hands of the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night. Philadelphia saw just one of its three All-Stars on the floor in the opener. Tyrese Maxey struggled to lead the charge in the absence of Joel Embiid and Paul George.
Embiid missed the opener with what the 76ers labeled left knee injury management. Following the game, the NBA launched an investigation into the 76ers to explore a possible violation of participation rules.
The NBA's player participation policy was introduced last season to monitor and limit the team's load management tendencies with star players.
Fans on X reacted to the news, trolling Joel Embiid for the investigation.
"NBA has no trust in the process," one fan humorously commented.
"Don't ever compare this man to Nikola Jokic again," another fan added with a viral video of two men falling over each other laughing.
"As punishment Tyrese Maxey should be sent to the Clippers for free," a hopeful Clippers fan chimed in.
Some fans brought other players who have been accused of load-managing into the joke.
"If they investigating Embiid like this (Ben Simmons) should have a 10-year ban," one fan commented.
"Are they going to investigate (Zion Williamson) and (Kawhi Leonard) too," another fan jokingly added.
Joel Embiid expects to miss back-to-backs for remainder of his career
Joel Embiid missed the entire preseason while his knee continues to heal. On October 14, the 2022-23 NBA MVP told ESPN's Tim Bontemps he feels he won't play another back-to-back in his career.
"If I had to guess, I would probably never play back-to-backs the rest of my career."
Joel Embiid appeared in just 39 games last season while dealing with a meniscus injury before returning for the playoffs. Embiid was impressive during the regular season despite playing at less than 100%, but the playoffs were a different story. He was overmatched by a physical New York Knicks frontcourt combined with inflammation from his knee injury.
In 39 games last season, Embiid averaged 34.7 points, 11.0 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game. Embiid missing games complicates the road to the playoffs for Philadelphia in the 2024-25 NBA season.