NBA News Roundup: LeBron James, Kevin Love attend Miami F1 Grand Prix qualifying, Philadelphia 76ers fined for league injury reporting rules and more | May 8th, 2022
The NBA world continues to stay active on and off the court during round two of the 2022 playoffs.
The Philadelphia 76ers were in the news on a positive note following their Game 3 win over Miami Heat. However, a day later, the franchise was fined for violating the league's injury reporting rules regarding Joel Embiid's availability.
Meanwhile, the Warriors-Grizzlies series took another ugly turn following Ja Morant's knee injury. Third-year guard Jordan Poole appeared to be grabbing Morant's knee and has received plenty of criticism from Memphis head coach Taylor Jenkins.
On that note, let's take a look at the most intriguing stories reported over the last 24 hours in the NBA below.
LeBron James and Kevin Love spectate the 2022 F1 Miami Grand Prix
Former teammates LeBron James and Kevin Love were spotted together spectating the debut F1 race weekend at the Miami Grand Prix. The duo hit their offseason vacation early this season after failing to make the playoffs.
LeBron's Lakers didn't even make it to the play-in tournament, while Love's Cavaliers succumbed to two straight defeats in the play-in tournament to fall out of playoff contention.
James and Love were accompanied by the former's agent and Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul, along with LeBron's business partner Maverick Carter, among others.
Philadelphia 76ers fined $50,000 for violating the NBA's injury reporting rules
Joel Embiid returned to save the day for the Philadelphia 76ers against the Miami Heat in Game 3 of their conference semifinals series. The 76ers won the tie 99-79, and shifted the seven-game contest in their favor, with the next game set to be played at their home as well.
The 76ers breached the league's injury reporting rules regarding Joel Embiid's availability, though, and were fined $50,000 for the same. Here's what the NBA said regarding this:
"The NBA today announced the Philadelphia 76ers have been fined $50,000 for violating league injury reporting rules. The team failed to disclose center-forward Joel Embiid’s participation status in an accurate and timely manner prior to Game 3 of their conference semifinal playoff series vs. the Miami Heat on May 6 at Wells Fargo Center."
Ja Morant leaves the floor injured during the Grizzlies' Game 3 loss to the Warriors
The Memphis Grizzlies may have suffered a big blow in their hopes of making a deep playoff push this campaign. Star man Ja Morant left the floor with an apparent knee injury during their Game 3 blowout loss to the Golden State Warriors. With only seven minutes left in the game, Jordan Poole happened to grab Morant's knee while defending him, which led to the reigning MIPOY's injury.
I don’t see a significant injury here with Ja Morant but possible knee sprain (MCL)
—1st force comes from outside with Jordan Poole knee bump
—Then he grabs the knee from inside and pulls it outward
https://t.co/mK7FV5Rnmm
The Grizzlies lost the tie 112-142, dropping to 1-2 in the series. The Warriors are in the driver's seat to advance to the next round as they will have the momentum heading into Game 4, which is set to be played on their homecourt as well, where they have been a dominant force.
Giannis Antetokounmpo drops 40-piece to lead Bucks to Game 3 win over Celtics
Giannis Antetokounmpo came up big in Game 3 to help the Milwaukee Bucks protect their homecourt against the rampant Boston Celtics. Antetokounmpo had struggled to score efficiently in Games 1 and 2, shooting just under 40% clip from the floor.
However, the "Greek Freak" managed to bag 42 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists on 55% shooting in Game 3 to lead the Bucks to a close 103-101 win. He also made nine of his 12 free-throw attempts. Milwaukee will enter as favorites in the next game to take a commanding 3-1 lead in this series.
🦌 42 PTS
🦌 12 REB
🦌 8 AST
Giannis took over in Milwaukee's Game 3 win! https://t.co/81XlRwWTmg
Taylor Jenkins, Ja Morant sound off on Jordan Poole
Memphis Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins and Ja Morant weren't impressed with Jordan Poole following his collision with the latter that led to Morant leaving the floor with a knee injury during the Grizzlies-Warriors Game 3 contest on Saturday.
Morant posted a tweet that hinted that Poole "broke the code," meaning he crossed the line on that play, leading to the Grizzlies talisman's injury. Morant later deleted that tweet.
Ja Morant tweets and deletes "broke the code" video clip after knee injury. complex.com/sports/ja-mora…
Taylor Jenkins took a dig at Poole as well, saying he certainly "yanked" Morant's knee. Here's what he told reporters regarding this (via Drew Hill):
“He is being evaluated right now. He was going for a loose ball and Jordan Poole grabbed his knee and yanked it. I’m curious to see what happens with that.”
Taylor Jenkins on Ja Morant’s injury: “He is being evaluated right now. He was going for a loose ball and Jordan Poole grabbed his knee and yanked it. I’m curious to see what happens with that.”
He said he’ll talk with Zach Kleiman about having the league look at the play.
It will be interesting to see what happens with Ja Morant's injury as he has been crucial to the Grizzlies' hopes of advancing to the next round. He has scored over 30 points in every game this series so far.