Joel Embiid's return to the Philadelphia 76ers' lineup came at an unnecessary expense.
The NBA has fined the 76ers $100,000 for breaking injury reporting guidelines prior to the reigning league MVP's return to the court on Tuesday against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
League rules require each team to reveal the status of any player who may be affected by injury no later than 5 p.m. local time the day before a game,
unless it is the second game of a back-to-back. Since then, the injury report has been updated on a regular basis.
Embiid's condition was downgraded to doubtful soon before Tuesday's game.
The move sparked suspicion that he will return to the court, and ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski confirmed the big man was back.
However, the 76ers appear to have failed to convey this information to the NBA.
In the 76ers' 109-105 victory, Embiid had 24 points on 6-of-14 shooting, six rebounds, seven assists, three steals, and six turnovers in 29 minutes.