“Three Games Away From Not Qualifying to Win MVP”: Draymond Green Blames Joel Embiid’s Injury on NBA’s 65-Game Rule

On Tuesday, the Golden State Warriors scored a much-needed 119-107 win over the Philadelphia 76ers and snapped their two-game losing streak. Draymond Green spoke about the game on his podcast, The Draymond Green Show, and praised his teammates for limiting Joel Embiid to 14 points. This game marked the first time the reigning NBA MVP finished with fewer than 20 points this season. It also ended his 21-game streak of scoring at least 30 points.

While Green was ecstatic about the Warriors’ defensive effort, he felt Embiid played this game out of fear of missing out on the NBA MVP award due to the league’s 65-game cutoff for individual accolades. The 76ers superstar struggled to make an impact in the game. He shot 5-of-18 from the field and struggled to help his team on the offensive and defensive ends. To make matters worse, he exited the game with a left knee injury after Warriors star Jonathan Kuminga landed on him.

Green claimed Embiid, who wasn’t 100% fit, was forced to play because he is inching closer to missing the 65-game mark. He said,

“You get Joel, who comes out there tonight because he’s three games from not qualifying for MVP. And he forced it. And freak play when JK (Jonathan Kuminga) and him dived for the ball, but it’s not as bad as the knee isn’t already banged up.”

Embiid had missed 12 games before the 76ers’ trip to San Francisco. He could only miss five more games before becoming ineligible for the MVP award. After suffering the injury against the Warriors, Embiid has been ruled out of Philadelphia’s home game against the Utah Jazz. He’ll have to play 31 of the 76ers’ 35 remaining games to qualify for MVP considerations.

Green claimed the NBA’s 65-game requirement would set a bad precedent of players ignoring their ailments, and worsening them. He is not wrong here to point out as Embiid’s awful performance due to his knee issues and subsequent injury is the opposite of what the NBA wanted to accomplish with their threshold.

Kevin Durant forced himself to play in the 2019 NBA Finals and suffered an injury that cost him almost 18 months of his career. Superstars hunting the MVP award and All-NBA nods, especially those with financial incentives tied to those achievements, could suffer a similar fate over an arbitrary requirement.

Joel Embiid was forced to play against the Warriors due to an NBA investigation

Another reason why Joel Embiid played against the Warriors was the NBA’s investigation of the 76ers after he skipped the team’s 111-105 loss to the Denver Nuggets last Saturday. The superstar wasn’t on the injury list but sat out of the game, citing a knee injury.

On NBA Today, NBA insider Ramona Shelburne reported that Embiid was keen on ending the chatter about him refraining from playing against Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets in Denver. The 76ers superstar last played an away game against the Nuggets in 2019. Embiid was nursing a knee injury and tried to push through the pain but couldn’t. Shelburne reported,

“He’s just managing this knee injury. I think he fully intended to try to play in Denver. He was the one who said to the team, ‘I’m playing, leave me off the injury report.’  That knee is an issue he’s going to have to manage for the rest of the season. There is swelling in there. He couldn’t even jump before the Denver game.” 

The NBA has been cracking down on load management. Embiid’s absence from the injury report and the game raised eyebrows, prompting an investigation. Pressure from the league and the prospect of failing to meet the 65-game requirement prompted the 76ers superstar to play against the Warriors. He could now be sidelined for an extended period. A disastrous outcome for Embiid and the team.