The Philadelphia 76ers are executing their plan.
Joel Embiid and Paul George are both out for Wednesday’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers due to “left knee injury management.”
Their status appears to confirm a plan by president of basketball operations Daryl Morey, who said in the offseason that “Paul and Joel probably [will] don’t play many back-to-backs, if any.” George and Embiid both played in Tuesday’s loss to the New York Knicks.
The 76ers will also be without All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey, who is sidelined for several weeks with a hamstring injury. The Cavaliers are looking to improve on their 12-0 start to the season.
The 76ers fell to 2-8 after Tuesday’s loss to the Knicks, continuing to raise questions about their viability in the playoffs just ten games into the season. They are ranked 14th out of 15 Eastern Conference teams, one game ahead of the 2-10 Toronto Raptors.
Embiid is one game shy of his season debut. He missed the first six games of the season due to what the team described as “left knee management.” He then missed Games 7-9 due to an NBA suspension for pushing a reporter.
George missed the first competitive games of the season after suffering a bone bruise in his knee in pre-season. He has played in five 76ers games since then and thrived in Tuesday’s game against the Knicks with 29 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and three steals. It was his best game since joining the 76ers, and he showed no signs of problems with his once-injured knee.
Embiid was slow in his first live basketball action since playing in the Summer Olympics and showed signs of not yet being in good shape. It is not clear whether he is directly dealing with lingering problems with his left knee that required surgery and sidelined him for a significant portion of last season.
He reiterated Morey’s offseason stance that he likely won’t play in back-to-back games.
“If I had to guess, I probably wouldn’t ever play back-to-backs for the rest of my career,” Embiid told ESPN in October.
Are absences consistent with the NBA’s player participation policy?
The NBA has implemented rules in 2023 that target the load management practices of resting star players when they are not injured. Teams are subject to fines for various violations of the policy, including prohibiting teams from sitting multiple star players in the same game if they are not injured and resting star players during nationally televised games.
The NBA launched an investigation into Embiid’s absence earlier this season, saying he was sidelined without an injury other than knee management. The NBA fined the 76ers $100,000 for public statements “that were inconsistent with the health status of Joel Embiid and violated NBA rules.”
The league determined that Embiid was “unable to play” and that his absence did not violate the league’s player participation policy.
