Joel Embiid’s mind-boggling penalty without playing a minute in the NBA this season

Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid has yet to appear in the NBA this season because of 'injury management' due to his lingering knee issues.

Despite the former NBA MVP not featuring in the opening three games of the season, Embiid has already been slapped with his first technical foul of the season!

In the NBA, a technical foul is most commonly given to a player who endangers another opponent with a serious player. However, Embiid didn't do this at all.

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According to The Mirror, Embiid, who dressed in an all-black tracksuit, waved his towel on the bench in a frenzy to try and put off the Indiana Pacers Andrew Nembhard at the free-throw line.

For context, the 76ers narrowly led the Pacers 114-111 away from home with 16.4 seconds remaining in the game. The Pacers guard was evidently distracted by the towel and missed his free throw.

Embiid could have stopped after helping his team on the court, but he continued waving the towel even faster.

The league assessed the incident on October 28th, a day after the game, and after reviewing the footage, assigned the Sixers' big man a technical foul.

An NBA statement read: "NBA has assessed Joel Embiid with a postgame technical foul for waving a towel during Andrew Nembhard's free throw attempt late in 76ers-Pacers on Sunday."

The Sixers won the game 118-114 after overtime, earning their first season victory in three games. This victory was partly due to Embiid and Paul George's absences due to injury.

Joel Embiid has built a reputation for missing games in the NBA. He has never played over 70 games in a season during his career, and only played 39 games last season.

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Despite featuring for Team USA at the Olympics in Paris, Embiid underwent off-season knee surgery on a lingering lateral meniscus injury, subsequently keeping him on the sidelines for another extended period.

According to Essentially Sport, due to the soft nature of Embiid's technical foul, some NBA fans made significant accusations against Adam Silver and the NBA.

One fan wrote: "The NBA doesn't like Embiid, and they are not hiding it." Implying Embiid's constant time on the sideline has rubbed the front office up the wrong way, and they are punishing him for it.

Marca reports that Embiid confirmed he wouldn't be playing in back-to-back games for the rest of his career, causing a storm with some NBA legends. Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley both reacted negatively to Embiid's statement.

Also, considering that Embiid received a technical foul that was not violent or harmful to anyone, one fan said, "NBA is soft, NFL is soft, the only real sport now is soccer." Another wrote, "What happened to the game I love?"

What do you think? Do you believe Embiid deserved to receive a technical foul, or do you think the NBA is targeting him because of his constant absence?

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