BREAKING NEWS: Joel Embiid Receives Technical Foul for Waving Towel During Pacers Free Throw. .giang

Joel Embiid hasn’t played a game yet this season, but he is officially in the NBA’s 2024-25 stat book because of a technical foul.

NBA Official announced Monday that the seven-time All-Star was assessed a postgame technical foul following Philadelphia’s overtime victory over the Indiana Pacers on Sunday. The league office reviewed the situation and issued the foul.

ESPN’s Shams Charania noted the postgame technical was because Embiid waved a towel during Andrew Nembhard’s late free-throw attempt.

The free throws in question happened in the final 20 seconds of overtime. The Sixers star was standing near the bench and waved the towel as Nembhard made one of two attempts to trim the deficit to two points.

Philadelphia ended up winning by four points after late free throws from Tyrese Maxey.

It was the 76ers’ first win through three games of the season. They have not had Embiid or Paul George on the court yet, which has placed much of the offensive onus on Maxey. The guard responded Sunday by pouring in 45 points.

While Embiid hasn’t played yet this season, he has been in the headlines.

The NBA is investigating the 76ers’ resting policy when it comes to the star big man. Philadelphia cited “left knee management” when explaining why he sat out in the preseason and began the campaign on the sidelines, which was notable since he suffered a torn meniscus in January.

However, he still played for Team USA in the 2024 Paris Olympics over the summer.

Embiid also turned heads when he told ESPN’s Tim Bontemps earlier this month, “If I had to guess, I would probably never play back-to-backs the rest of my career.”

Injuries have always been a storyline during the 30-year-old’s career, as he has never played more than 68 games in a season and missed his first two campaigns after he was the No. 3 overall pick of the 2014 draft.

Keeping him healthy for the playoffs is surely a priority for the team, although the NBA may disagree with how it does so depending on the results of the investigation.

For now, Embiid has more technical fouls than minutes played this season.