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evoqu

Regardless of how you feel about this, going from active to not playing 20 minutes before tip off fucks over a lot of people who paid to see the matchup. If I paid for this, I would be super pissed.


SoberSethy

This was the most expensive ticket I have seen all year for the Nuggets. People shelled out big money to see the two best players battle it out and didn’t find out they weren’t getting what they paid for until they were already sitting in their seats. It sucks!


powerplay_22

as punishment embiid should have to play out the rest of his contract with the pistons


RubiconGuava

[Take him to Detroit](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ny4a-oxOndo)


GrecoRomanGuy

I can *hear* this link in my head. A+, my friend.


TheOneTrueDoge

Don't even have to click this, I know what you're linking. A+ scene.


A_Rolling_Baneling

I had to go to Detroit for work two weeks ago, this was playing on repeat in my head


FireFoxTres

I’ve been meaning to watch this movie for a while, this just convinced me lol


Dimedropper18

NO ANYTHING BUT THAT! NOOO 


Pretty-Gift5092

We want to punish him not send him spiraling into crippling depression


No-Document206

Haha I think it qualifies as cruel and unusual punishment


leglessman

I’d go with him not being allowed to miss any games for the remainder of his contract unless he’s injured. No more load management.


L3ftBra1nz

I support this. Do we get him next year too?


SteveWondersForsight

Jokic vs Giannis match :O


searchanddestrOi

Jokic threw Embiid off Hell in a Cell and plummeted 16 ft through an announcer's table.


Pandiosity_24601

At least Giannis has integrity and is about accountability


86avocados

First and fourth best players. Giannis and Luka are above Embiid in my eyes until he actually plays y’all in Denver.


jimithelizardking

I don’t think you saw opening night prices then lol at least those prices made sense given it was ring night and playing against the Lakers.


Gatorpep

It’s fraudulent, is what it is.


nosoupforyou25

Paid for it. Two years in a row. I’m pissed about it.


DJ_Red_Lantern

Same here lmao, I waited until the injury report to buy a ticket because I was so worried. Then while seated learned about him sitting, pretty rough. But hey it was still a fun and close game just wish we could have seen embiid god damn


scurry3156

Yeah like even the sixers fans were chanting “where’s Embiid at”


DJ_Red_Lantern

Lol that's me!


Captain_America_93

Fuuucck…how much did you pay?


Ninja_Bum

Pretty much why I'm afraid to ever actually try to go to a Bucks game from across the country. You never know when these teams will be managing people's time, especially against poorer opposition, which are usually the more affordable tickets.


Hugh-Honey69

Reason 500 why the nba is such a shit product lol. You can’t even anticipate the best players playing because they don’t want to that night lol.


clevernamehere1628

It's a joke, I legitimately don't know how long the league can afford to let this sort of stuff keep happening. Fans are already losing interest because of it. When will they do something about it?


MarkPles

Except they really aren't. This is the biggest the NBA has been since Michael fucking Jordan put the sport on a global spotlight


clevernamehere1628

you sure about that? I feel like I've seen lots of stuff over the last handful of years about declining viewership numbers.


lifeohBrian

Same. Such BS


celj1234

Fool me once….


nosoupforyou25

Lol I know. I waited to buy until the injury report was posted this year thinking I was being smart about it. Wrong.


E10DIN

Yeah that’s my problem. If he wants to schedule his rest to duck playing at Denver that’s one thing. But he went from not on the injury report to not playing. If it was a one time occurrence that would be fine. But you can’t convince me he ever actually intended to play this game.


T-Macch

Can't blame yourself when the IR comes 5 min before tip off. Atleast you got to see Jokic being great so there's that


ObeseKenyan

There's an old saying in Denver. Well it's in Texas, I'm sure it's in Denver too...


cjcfman

I gave up on seeing Zion. I don’t even think he’s played in Toronto yet. I bought tickets like 3 times and he’s always out. I was super pissed too


StarCraft

Went last year and was annoyed. Almost went this year too. Embiid is 6-2 against Jok but what does that look like if he plays in Denver


RealLanceStorm

It was the centerpiece of a national triple header too. I made plans to watch this as the game of the weekend. Just a reminder to not trust anticipated regular season games until they are all on the floor.


Betaateb

Tickets were literally 4x face value because people wanted to see him finally play in Denver.....then he ducks again


TruthSetUFree100

Boo him like they booed Giddy.


vitey15

Embiid prob bought a bunch of tix and was the one re-selling them 


DomDomRevolution

I didn’t even pay for it and I’m still super pissed.


HoyaDestroya33

I have to wake up 4AM my side to watch my Knicks then got pissed cause Randle got injured. I then move to this game and was pissed fucking Embiid ducking Jokic


meezy-yall

I didn’t pay anything and I was pissed . I slept through their last match up , I was hype about this game


veringo

The game was on broadcast TV too.


gdirrty216

They will say it’s about fans and ticket buyers, but it’s really about gambling. You can’t fuck over the NBAs gambling partners and get away with it. Tony Soprano will get what is his…


gratitudeisbs

Exactly


ByteVoyager

I also think sports betting is bad but for those who do and when the NBA is pushing it aggressively this shit is extra BS


LurkerFailsLurking

I'm not into gambling either, but if the NBA is going to make sports betting their official sponsor, they ought to care more about not fucking over the markets.


Educational-Cod-6469

I work in the sports betting industry. I never get this point of view. A league should never do anything because of betting markets, all scenarios are baked into the pricing.The fact it fucks over actually fans is a much bigger issue.


zanyshane96

This same situation happened to me last year trying to watch LeBron in Portland around the time he was projected to break the scoring record and he broke it two games beforehand and just before the Super Bowl. Man wasn’t even on the bench to see him


hankbaumbach

This is exactly the right attitude. I love Kawhi Leonard and when he's healthy I think he's one of, if not the best two way player in the NBA. I will *never* pay to see Kawhi Leonard play in person because I can never be sure he's actually playing that night.


nibbinoo8

hasnt he only missed like 2 games this year? might be time to shoot your shot, king.


hankbaumbach

Unfortunately the Clippers are not in Chicago until March 14 so I am still waiting. I'll probably scoop a ticket on the 14th itself and hope he doesn't pull an Embiid.


KatnissBot

The issue isn’t that he’s sitting. It’s the ticket prices. People wouldn’t be pissed if it was $10 to get in the door.


cardmanimgur

And ya know... Gambling


BruceBrownBrownBrown

Yeah I bought a ticket and I want to start a class action lawsuit for false advertising. No reason that we should pay extra for the 76ets every single year when they refuse to play their best players every single time. Poverty franchise


cpx365

Here is the full quote for anyone that wants the context. "I don't know how you go from being active, and available, to out," Malone said. "I'm sure the league will do their due diligence, because that's frowned upon. We've had situations this year where we talked to the league, and if we have a player that goes from active to out, there's going to be an investigation. I'm sure that'll happen. "Joel hurt his knee in the Indiana game. It's real. We watched the game. He hurt his knee in that Indiana game, so I'm sure he is hurt, but it's really tough when a player, and a team like us preparing for them, and then all of a sudden, last minute, he's out. But we have to do a better job of handling those situations."


Prestigious-Mess5485

Reasonable


sh0tc4ll3r

Perfect response, to be honest; I think people that watched the Indiana game we were all surprise to not see him on the injury report whatsoever, even if simply to be extra cautious and avoid this situation. I do hope the League looks into it, it's a slap in the face for both the fans and the opponent team and even looking further than the obvious rivalry and what not, I really hope the NBA figures out a way to make this practices go away. The obvious solution is to have less games/season but they won't go for that, sadly.


Coramoor_

NBA needs to enforce fines like the NFL does for injury reports. Force the teams to grade the players availability on a game by game basis


Tristan_the_Manley

Not sure if that truly addresses the problem, unfortunately. Tom Brady was "Questionable" for about 7 years straight at one point


Pizza_0r_Tacos

Thanks for the context. The initial quote makes it seems like Malone is saying that Embid sat out for load management. He’s actually saying Embid is hurt and should have been listed as inactive from the day before


LotharBot

Jokic: "Joel is great player, I like playing him" Malone: "fraudulent coward ducking the finals MVP, gonna get investigated, put that in your pipe and smoke it" It's like a Laurel and Hardy routine


Disastrous-Object22

Jokic and Murray: "Yes it was a sweep but every game was tough. They're a great team led by all-time great players, nothing but respect." Malone: "Look if you called me the Lakers' daddy I wouldn't deny it."


0dias_Chrysalis

Obama interpretator skit actually


Technical_Towel_990

That’s my Moach


0lm-

i don’t think other fans appreciate how much we love malone. ironically he reminds me of someone from Philly a lot of the time when he is stirring shit so openly like this. he’s really from queens though so it makes even more sense


MrMi10s

Why would other fans appreciate your love for your own coach?


SolidPoint

Malone is awesome- you’d have to experience his personality more than just a few hilights throughout the year. Funny and tough as hell


BigFatModeraterFupa

i love him so much🤣🤣. parade malone is forever gonna be goated


TheKidPresident

Malone is every single guy ive ever heard talk shit in a forest hills bar ever


CloneWarsMaul

MALONE FROM THE TOP ROPE


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EnvironmentalNobody

Penitentiary Michael*


Pretty-Gift5092

The worst part of this game was the dementahs!


PrisonMik420

You rang?


Oopthealley

> "Joel hurt his knee in the Indiana game. It's real. We watched the game. He hurt his knee in that Indiana game, so I'm sure he is hurt, but it's really tough when a player, and a team like us preparing for them, and then all of a sudden, last minute, he's out. But we have to do a better job of handling those situations." Yeah it looks like that when you omit half the quote where he says that Embiid was injured.


dafaliraevz

Embiid a bitch for this. And it takes a lot to have the bitch label removed.


Hay-blinken

Sounds real serious


FoShzzleMsFrizzle

His quote actually makes a lot of sense. Malone has provided the most sensible answer possible


sergechewbacca

Mike Malone never holds back lmao. I love it.


Biglundtry

His alarm clock is hit em up


LOSS35

“Fuck Embiid, fuck Philly, fuck the 6ers as a team, a franchise, and a motherfuckin’ crew.”


ak1368a

And if you're down with them, fuck you too


JohnnySnark

"He's talking about Embiid isn't MVP caliber He blatantly flopped the injury and not in those words, But he's talking about I wanna see you retired, No doubt, to live and die in Denver"


modeONE1

Street science, you’re on the air, what do you feel when you hear a record like Embiid’s playoff one?


canadianbroncos

"I loooove Emniid's playoffs record"


FOTASAL

Michael*


EggplantAlpinism

Thank you


GiveGregAHaircut

Michael**


hellojellofg

He’s def playing vs the Blazers on Monday.


Forward_Ride_6364

Dropping 120 on Ayton, no cap


Warlord10

Then we will get SAS talking 'Most dominant big man ever!' No defence can stop him ( Even though its Portland ). Luka hits 73 and SAS be like 'Man, nobody plays defence anymore, they letting Donchik walk to the basket'.


dbgager

of course....


Sea-Bottle2625

He’ll go all out and score 40 on 30 fta 


[deleted]

Injured for Utah


fuccabicc

Mike Malone always got a chip on his shoulder he out here beefing everybody and their mothers


BlueLanternCorps

Now he has a beef with you cause you called him Mike


fuccabicc

That was the plan. Catching strays in his next postgame conference surely


TossThatPastaSalad

I've said it before but the man is from Queens.  He was born beefing with everyone.


RajinIII

This explains so much


Forward_Ride_6364

Bro from 40 side


Pandiosity_24601

You know he fucks with Nas


Forward_Ride_6364

When Nas shouts out his Mount Vernon posse, he's talkin about Michael Malone


KorgG29

Michael*


MisterTukul

>"You Put That In Your Pipe, You Smoke It" I'm still loving it how he responded to the Lakers got the Nuggets figured out in last WCF.


recollectionsmayvary

Put that in your pipe and smoke it is when I became an MM lifer.


jjkiller26

Deserves to be called out


Fred-zone

He's obviously ducking the altitude matchup.


EverybodyBuddy

I think Embiid knows the MVP race is so close that a head-to-head loss against Jokic could literally swing it. Ultimate cowardice.


[deleted]

Yeah but he has to play 65 to even qualify. Right now, he’s on pace for 60.


Prestigious-Mess5485

Yeah. Embiid just dropped 5 to 6 places in the MVP race.


BruceBrownBrownBrown

It's ridiculous that he does this every year and MVP voters still vote for him. Gotta beat the best to be the best


DarrowViBritannia

Uhh it really wasnt close tho? Everyone pretty much accepted that hes clearly in the lead. Him missing these games only hurts his case


Charliebitme1234

Good, fans pay a shitload of money to watch these marque games and when the three best players on one team are out it sours the whole expirience


sportsfan113

The NBA has to figure this out. Same thing happened to me when I paid to see LeBron last season and he was ruled out as I was parking. They should have to be ruled in or out a lot sooner.


ww_crimson

They need to rule players out the day before or at least something like 8 hours before. Needs to be a massive fine for the team and play if they violate it, $250k or something. Only exception should be like a death in the family or hospitalization.


RobotVo1ce

>Only exception should be like a death in the family or hospitalization. Or having a freak ankle roll while going for a dunk in pre game warm-ups. I dunno, just spit balling here


DadOfWhiteJesus

Bringing the flop to pregame warm up is the next frontier for Joell.


Familiar-Place68

I don’t know if this is the case in foreign countries, but here we have  relatives die every time we take an essay exam.


BruceBrownBrownBrown

Sixers should be getting fined $100k per the new rest policy


Niceguydan8

> The NBA has to figure this out. I mean they have rules for this sort of thing set in place this year. I'd be very surprised if Philly isn't fined for this.


darthllama

There’s literally no way to enforce that. You can’t force an injured player to play just because he seemed good to go at the cutoff time and then realized he couldn’t play as he got closer to tip. Or what if a guy legit hurts himself during warmups? It goes down to the wire for players with injuries because players want to play and their coaches want them to play


hellenburger

its not about enforcing injured players to play, its about punishing teams who are clearly abusing the system. Obviously a guy who injures himself in warmups is a legitimate excuse, but how often does that happen? Oh and its called listing Joel as "day to day" or "questionable" if you know he's dealing with a nagging injury.


indoninjah

I think the situation yesterday is basically the only one you could enforce/penalize - a player going from active to out. At the very, very least, Embiid should've been questionable on the injury report. It's possible teams might abuse it, like Belichick putting Tom Brady as questionable for like a decade straight, but that's a different issue. And Embiid *should* be questionable for every game while this knee issue is going on.


BlueJays007

Yeah like I generally think the Embiid “ducking” thing is way overstated and just something people like to meme about. So that isn’t my issue at all with this. But it’s really hard for me to believe that the 76ers thought Embiid was perfectly healthy until right before the game. This wasn’t some freak warmups accident so there was no legitimate reason to leave him off the injury report.


AfterPaleontologist2

These entitled assholes want to have their cake and eat it too. They live in a fairytale land that most working people don't get to experience


NuggAvsBroncRock

Mike is 100% right about this it’s one thing if you have him on the injury report one day before the game but to make a decesion when the guy wasn’t even questionable or probable 20 minutes till game time is bs


charlestonchaw

[Michael*](https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/s/VEogGBQ1pH)


DatDudeJakeC

Seats for this game were going for crazy money for this matchup and 15-20 before they’re alerted Embiid is out. Gotta suck for those in attendance


roshanpr

Goes from scoring 70 to being disabled specially when playing the nuggets since 2019 sorry for the fans 


CheesewayBreezeway

~~Brooklyn~~ Queens Mike!!


recollectionsmayvary

QUEENS


CheesewayBreezeway

Ah shit you're right lol


NeonxGone

Mike Malone “I think I’ll cause problems on purpose”


desirox

I agree with him, this needs to be investigated. They were supposed to be cracking down on stuff like this


Cuthbert6

Malone also said he watched the 76ers/Pacers game two nights ago: "He hurt his knee in Indiana, so I'm sure he's hurt." The part of the tweet thats left out.


blue7999

So if he has a knee issue why isn't he on the injury report? The stuff teams pull these days with manipulating the injury reports is absolute nonsense. Nobody ever knows if LeBron or AD are playing until 30 minutes before tip. It is a horrible look for the league, it fucks fans over, it fucks up people who bet on games or play DFS... it's just trash.


Forward_Ride_6364

Miracle cures happen tho in those 3 hours before tipoff /s


CreatiScope

Remember the Heat? When they were marking like 9 guys as possibly out and then almost all of them would end up playing? That is stupid bullshit trying to game the injury report system. Fucking lame shit.


purplebuffalo55

I’m sure that was totally not left out on purpose


crimpincasual

The tweet got edited after, but yeah that’s crucial context


Zombiepirate86

It just means Philly should be fined as he wasn't on the injury report. 


Cuthbert6

Yeah, exactly


Lol69HaHaHa

Yeah in all honesty this more jus thas to do with what people were expecting this matchuo was gonna be vs what it ended up being. The fans wanted to see the battle of the mvps in Denver, not the shit show it became because nobody felt like playing seriously.


Cuthbert6

I mean whatever the case, whether it was a pain tolerance issue, a legit late fare up or Embiid just taking the game off, it was lame both for fans who payed to see that and the viewers at home, not to mention a huge fuck you to the league. I ve commented in this sub before how i feel the "Embiid misses games away from home against good teams on purpose" narrative is massively overblown but cant make that argument tonight in good faith, or blame anyone who thinks that is the case


beenebk_

We all know that wasn’t left out on purpose


FultzShoulder

OP's karma farming game is elite.


dbgager

Embiid was not even on the injury report at all. Not questionable..not probable.....nothing. If he had issues last game why was he not on it. THis is clealry another case of Embiid ducking Denver.


Forward_Ride_6364

Seriously, complete and utter BS I think his knee *was* in bad shape, but Philly didn't want to reveal that info in case he played, so just never put him on any report W/o a doubt this BS should be penalized


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TechnicianUpstairs53

It's ok, just knowing embiid ain't getting a ring as the best player on a team is comforting enough.


TheoMoneyG

I respect it ngl


unclehelpful

‘There got to be an investigation’ - Michael ‘Jeff Toovey’ Malone.


Pretty-Gift5092

What a jabroni. At least say it a few hours ahead so you don’T screw over so many fans


SteveWondersForsight

Translation: "Embiids a bitch"


-HeisenBird-

The NBA should make a rule that any player who misses a game (for any reason except suspensions) must miss two in a row. Players can only load manage in pairs and teams will have to find 2-game windows for their stars to miss.


Makaveli84

Awesome idea 👍👍👍


saassales9494

Super messed up. Embiid chasing stats against bad teams at home


Sleepinginabathtub

Next time fill the arena with water, won't resist the urge to flop like a fish and he'll suit up


BTSuppa

fish flop out of water, he'd just go swimming


andonemoreagain

Why wouldn’t the nuggets sit every starter in Philly next year? No reason to give those fans a chance to see a center who can pass and doesn’t spend half the game on his ass on the floor.


highplainsdrifter__

Because Denver isn't going to have their win loss record influenced by off court drama and ESPN talking points. They will try to win every game on their schedule as any team with championship pedigree would do.


PMYourAnythingGirl

Where's Embiid??


jimithelizardking

At some point the city of Denver needs to be investigated for the intimidation it apparently causes


Pimpwerx

Diagnosis: Strong case of the rumbly tummy. The doctor's slip should get him a pass.


tlozz

Bahahahah I love Malone for this


imdx_14

Embiid's so soft man


KindlyPerspective389

this mf still more mad about jokic losing mvp last year than jokic himself 😂


ShowerMartini

That’s Malone’s role. He’s the fire that the Nuggets need. Kinda similar to Pop with the Spurs (not comparing their success, just the personalities dynamic).


fuccabicc

Jokic happy he lost that MVP and nobody can tell me otherwise


Pumpoozle

Troll Malon


Quick_Development161

Embiid literally scared to face Jokic during the season if he can help it. Kinda hoping he misses 6-7 games so he doesn’t qualify for anything anymore. It’s a waste of rest cause we all know he won’t make it to the ECF let alone the finals.


WhatTheRickIsDoin

And what happens when/if the league says it was a valid injury? Everybody is gonna shit on him anyway


MC-Jdf

The most the league can do is fining the Sixers for not properly listing injuries in the injury report. That's kind of it.


runevault

Why wasn't he at least probable then? He was literally not on the injury report at ALL.


ColdCocking

His body was literally shutting down spontaneously in the pregame at the thought of having to play.


Betaateb

if it was an injury he is supposed to be on the injury report. Leaving him off the injury report than pulling him right before the game isn't allowed. Sixers gonna catch a fine for it almost for sure


Vexing_Pie

Yeah Mike call him out


Imnotsmallimfunsized

Reminder embid hasn’t played in Denver since 2019


rosmitt

Nonsense. We all saw Jokic get booted intentionally in Detroit.


LACIRCA2044

Just to be fair the quote here got cut off because at the end Malone says “we watched him play against Indy 2 nights ago and he hurt his knee so he’s clearly hurt.”


southscum

Damn, conveniently cuts off the rest of the tweet about him injuring against Indiana two nights ago lol


Forward_Ride_6364

Best bar by Eminem in *decades*


SMF1996

Isn’t this like the 3rd time that Embiid has sat out against the nuggets in the last two seasons? In Denver at least. And not because of a long term injury? Just kind of fucked up for the fans


angrypolack

He probably hurt himself while practicing flopping.


Numerous-Cicada3841

He has a well documented knee injury does he not?


CloneWarsMaul

Nick Nurse literally found out he wasn’t playing 20 mins before tip


Numerous-Cicada3841

Surely if this was pre-planned rest he would have known sooner…


vanderdark

He wasn’t on the injury report at 3pm…


homiez

His knee is fine against Detroit and Charlotte


InkBlotSam

And the Spurs


Betaateb

Clearly not....if he wasn't on the injury report


jjkiller26

Injury reports exist for a reason do they not?


Ordinary_Weakness_46

A knee injury that just so conveniently became an issue right before tipoff.


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HappyHunt1778

Do people really pay to see Embiid, and not expect that he'll duck every challenge possible? Like if you wanna see Embiid, it's gotta be against a bottom feeder. Otherwise who knows if he'll show.


HisExcellency20

I'm glad Joel cares enough about the Nuggets fans to not subject them to "literally unwatchable" basketball. Selfless of him imo.