NBA Fines Sixers for Failing to List Ben Simmons on the Injury Report vs. Nuggets
On Saturday, the Philadelphia 76ers' matchup with the Denver Nuggets was in danger of getting postponed as the Sixers didn't have enough healthy players to form an eight-man team. After three players cleared COVID-19 tracing protocol, the Sixers ended up with nine healthy players ahead of the matchup.
Last-minute, the Sixers ruled two more players out as Joel Embiid was dealing with back stiffness and Ben Simmons was dealing with a swollen knee. That left Philly with seven available players on Saturday, which normally would've caused a postponed game as Philly failed to meet the minimum requirements.
However, the league convinced the Sixers to suit up an injured Mike Scott to make eight players available so the game could go on -- and it did. Now, the NBA is reportedly looking into how the Sixers handled their listing of injuries last week.
Embiid, who was listed as questionable last Friday night due to health and safety protocols, sat out on Saturday for non-COVID-related reasons. Meanwhile, Simmons was absent from the injury report leading up to pregame warmups for the Sixers on Saturday -- but was ruled out for having swelling in his knee.
According to Yahoo Sports' Chris Haynes, the NBA launched an investigation on the Sixers' handling of Simmons' injury on Monday. Shortly after the initial report, the NBA announced the Sixers would see a fine of $25,000 for "failing to list Ben Simmons on the team’s initial injury report for Saturday’s game against Denver."
Per the NBA's injury reporting rules, each team has to list an injured player's participation status by 5:00 pm est. on the day before a game, which Philly failed to do for Simmons on Friday. Therefore, the Sixers will be punished accordingly.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_
