"People being lazy": Udonis Haslem supports NBA's 65-game criteria amid Joel Embiid injury conundrum

NBA's new rule has put Philadelphia 76ers Joel Embiid's bid to win awards at stake as he's missed 12 games already. The rule states that to be eligible for regular-season honors such as MVP and All-NBA teams, a player must spend 20 minutes on the court in at least 65 games. Former player Udonis Haslem recently spoke about the league's decision.

It's been reported that Embiid will miss his 13th game on Thursday as he's dealing with a knee issue. The center was injured during the game against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday, as he made contact with Jonathan Kuminga. He left in the fourth period and never returned.

The new rule hasn't been well-received by the players. Warriors forward Draymond Green expressed his frustration and further explored how it will affect Embiid's MVP case. However, Haslem sides with the league's decision to put a limit on the number of games played to qualify for awards.

The former Miami Heat forward gave his take on the situation on "NBA TV," saying:

"It's unfortunate. But I gotta go with the league on this one. Even as a former player. In this situation, he's really actually hurt. But it was put in because guys were taking games that weren't actually hurt."

"It kinda affect Joel in the wrong way cause he's actually, physically dealing with something right now. But make no mistake about it, it was put in because people were being lazy... as a player, I understand that it is a long grueling season that we do wanna take breaks sometimes. But you got a job to do."

Over the past few seasons, there has been a surge of players missing games. While there are instances where players deal with injuries, a few simply opt to sit out to rest their bodies. This practice affected how fans view the NBA, forcing the league to come up with a solution before the 2023-24 season started.

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What happened to Joel Embiid?

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported earlier that Joel Embiid won't be available for Thursday's game against the Jazz. Embiid's knee has been injured and he will be re-evaluated in the next 24 hours. The team reported that the five-time All-NBA won't join the team tomorrow and is expected to travel back to Philly.

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Before playing against the Warriors, the Sixers' center missed two games as he dealt with similar knee issues. During his absence, he caught a ton of flak from the fans as he didn't play against the Denver Nuggets.

However, the star center cannot miss more than four games this season if he wishes to take home an NBA honor. With the league's new rule, the only way for Embiid to win another MVP award is if he stays healthy and consistent. If he misses more than four games, his historic season could be wasted as he might not be eligible for any in-season award.

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