Philadelphia 76ers star and reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid has suffered a lateral meniscus injury in his left knee, as reported by ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
The Sixers announced Embiid will be out through the weekend as all parties involved determine the next steps in the treatment process. Sources tell Wojnarowski that "there is still uncertainty over how Embiid and the 76ers will move forward with a treatment plan for the injury, and options be discussed over the next several days."
Embiid appeared to sustain the injury when the Warriors' Jonathan Kuminga dove for a loose ball and landed on his left knee.
Prior to playing in Tuesday's game between the 76ers and Warriors, Embiid missed the previous two games because of left knee soreness. One of the two games he sat out was against the Denver Nuggets on Saturday, after the team was "not liking how he looked in warmups," according to Wojnarowski.
The NBA announced Thursday that the Sixers are being fined $75,000 for sitting out Embiid on Saturday and violating the league's injury reporting rules. The reason for the fine was because Embiid went from not being on the injury report to being out for a nationally televised game.
It's likely that Embiid's latest injury will remove him from consideration for MVP despite averaging a league-leading 35.3 points per game. A newly implemented rule stipulates a player must compete in at least 65 games to be eligible for postseason awards.
The rule was recently criticized by Draymond Green on his podcast. "I don't really bang with it," Green said, as transcribed by CBS Sports. "Now we've got one of our premier faces in this league, the MVP of our league, possibly hurt for an extended period of time because he's forcing it."
Embiid told reporters earlier this month that his primary concern was the playoffs and not postseason awards. "The goal is to be ready for the playoffs," he said, according to ESPN. "If I can't meet the criteria of 65 games...as long as I'm ready to be dominant in that time in April, that's all I care about.
