Joel Embiid has pulled off the impressive feat of picking up a technical foul before even making his season debut.
The NBA announced on Monday that the Philadelphia 76ers star Embiid has been given a technical foul retroactively due to his actions from the bench during Sunday’s game against the Indiana Pacers.
The incident occurred during a free throw attempt by Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard with 16.4 seconds left in overtime and the 76ers leading 114-111. Embiid, who was inactive and in street clothes on the bench, was standing up by the side of the bench area and yelled and waved a towel around while Nembhard shot his free throw. Nembhard would go on to miss the attempt, and the 76ers held on to win 118-114.
Here is the video of the incident.
Joel Embiid, who has yet to play a single game this season, has already picked up a technical foul for what he did here, the NBA has announced. pic.twitter.com/Ddu2kMWC7H
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) October 28, 2024
Section V of the NBA rulebook states that a technical foul may be assessed to any player on the court or on the bench for conduct deemed “detrimental to the game.” Per Section V, that also includes “participation in the game when not on [the] team’s active list.” It appears that was the basis for Embiid’s retroactive technical here.
The former MVP Embiid has missed all three games of the season thus far for the 76ers with what the team has dubbed “left knee injury management.” The NBA has since launched an investigation into Embiid’s playing status, so between that and this latest towel incident, the 76ers are not very good friends with the league office right now.
