Michael Malone expects NBA to investigate Joel Embiid for skipping ...

Joel Embiid was ruled out at the last second Saturday afternoon due to knee soreness before the Sixers' only game this season at the Denver Nuggets.

The NBA MVP has not appeared in a game at Ball Arena since November 8, 2019. Unless the Nuggets and 76ers face off in the NBA Finals, the next chance will arise in the 2024-25 season.

Embiid scored 41 points in a 126-121 Sixers win in Philadelphia last week, improving his head-to-head record against Jokic to 6-2. But only two of those matchups have taken place in Colorado.

"I was trying to grab guys individually," Nuggets coach Michael Malone said, adding that he was afraid that Joel Embiid’s last-second absence could soften his team's mental edge.

"And Aaron Gordon was like, ‘What are you talking about?'" Malone recalled after his fears came true, even though the Nuggets escaped with a 111-105 win.

"I said, Embiid’s not playing. So like, our players didn’t know. They're out on the court warming up."

In its new Player Participation Policy, the NBA requires teams to ensure their healthy star players (those who have been an All-Star or All-NBA selection in the last three years) are available for all national television broadcasts. 

Embiid was not mentioned at all on Philadelphia’s pregame injury report, even as probable or questionable, but ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the 76ers center was out due to knee soreness. Malone joked that 'Woj called me' when asked when and how he found out.

"I don’t know how you go from being active, available, to out. And I’m sure the league will do their due diligence, because that’s frowned upon," the coach said.

"And we've had situations this year where we talked to the league, and they told us if a player goes from being active to out, there's going to be an investigation. So I'm sure that'll happen. And I'm sure that Joel, he hurt his knee in the Indiana game. Like, that’s real. I’m sure he is hurt."

"We were looking forward to our guys going against their guys," Michael Porter Jr. said. "So definitely, it was a little bit of a letdown to hear so late."

Still, Nikola Jokic and Michael Malone both rejected the idea that Jokic vs. Embiid or Denver vs. Philadelphia is a legitimate rivalry.

"To be honest, media made the rivalry," Jokic said. "I have nothing against him, and I think he's a great player. Even if you’re a basketball, soccer, horse-racing fan, Denver Nuggets fan, Philadelphia fan, whoever, I think you need to respect what he is doing."

"No disrespect to what (the NBA is) trying to create, but I don’t feel it's a rivalry personally," Malone said. "They’re in the East. We’re in the West. We play them twice a year. We’ve yet to play them in the playoffs, obviously the NBA Finals. But I think rivalry week, they’re trying to create something between Joel and Nikola, and I get that."

Embiid can only miss six more games this season before losing his eligibility for the MVP crown and other end-of-year accolades. He and Jokic are the winners of the last three MVPs.

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