Sixers under scrutiny? NBA to review Joel Embiid's late pre-game scratch from Nuggets matchup
Over the weekend, Joel Embiid was slated to suit up against Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets. However, last second changes before tip-off has now resulted in a possible league investigation.
Leading up to the game, Embiid was not on the injury report. Things then changed after he went through warm-ups. Roughly a half hour before the game was supposed to start, news emerged that Embiid would not be playing. According to Adrian Wojnarowski, the reigning MVP was dealing with knee soreness and the training staff weighed on the side of caution.
Due to the nature of how things unfolded, NBA insider Shams Charania cited that the league could end up looking into this incident. He also mentioned that Joel Embiid did not appear on the injury report until just before the game was set to start.
"Joel Embiid did injure his knee the previous game but he wasn't on the team's injury report the day before the game," Shams said. "He didn't enter the injury report I'm told until 15 minutes before tip-off. For sure that's something the league will have to review."
Despite being so shorthanded, the Philadelphia 76ers still managed to make things interesting against the Nuggets. Led entirely by their supporting cast, they took things down to the end before losing by a final score of 111-105.
Joel Embiid can miss minimal games before losing MVP eligibility
This season, Joel Embiid once again finds himself in the MVP conversation. That said, factors outside of on-court performance could impact his chances of winning the award for a second-straight season.
In hopes of lowering the volume of load management across the league, the NBA made some changes to the player participation policy. The main rule they added has to do with player's eligibility for season awards. To be in consideration now, a player must appear in at least 65 games to be eligible for any awards or All-NBA type honors.
As we just passed the halfway point in the regular season, Embiid has already missed a handful of games. Since he was a late scratch against the Denver Nuggets Saturday, he can now only miss six more games the rest of the way.
Right now, Embiid is in the midst of one of the most historic offensive seasons in NBA history. His most notable accomplishment came earlier this month, when he erupted for 70 points in a win over the San Antonio Spurs. Embiid is also currently on pace to be the second player ever to have more points than minutes played in a season.
Despite all these impressive accomplishments, Embiid might find himself on the outside looking in of the MVP race come the end of the season. It will all come down to how durable he can be in the coming months.