Joel Embiid hasn't yet played for the Philadelphia 76ers this season. He's been listed as out due to injury management through Philadelphia's first three games, but that doesn't mean he's been away from the team entirely. He's been supporting his teammates closely from the sidelines, and on Sunday, that proved somewhat problematic.
With 16.4 seconds left in overtime of Sunday's win over the Indiana Pacers, Andrew Nembhard stepped to the free-throw line to try to cut into Philadelphia's 114-111 lead. Embiid can be seen waving a towel in the background of the video below, and once Nembhard misses the first attempt, the waving grows more animated.
On Monday, the NBA issued Embiid a postgame technical foul for it.
Had the technical been called during gameplay, it actually could have meant quite a bit. Nembhard missed the first free throw, but by making the second, he cut the deficit down to two points. Had he been given another free throw off of a technical, he could have trimmed the deficit to a single point. That means quite a bit as Indiana fouled Kelly Oubre after Nembhard's second shot and he missed his first attempt at the line. After he made his second, Philadelphia had a three-point lead and was able to foul Aaron Nesmith, thus preventing a game-tying 3-point attempt. If Philadelphia had only been up two points, the 76ers would not have intentionally fouled and the Pacers could have played for a game-tying or game-winning shot.
Instead, the technical foul was given after the game had already ended. That prevented it from impacting the outcome of the game itself, but does hit Embiid with a small fine. All technical fouls carry fines, and the first five of a player's season cost $2,000. If a player reaches 16 technical fouls in a season, he gets an automatic one-game suspension, so this after-the-fact call could matter down the line. For now, though, it just lightens Embiid's wallet a bit.
Philadelphia returns to action on Wednesday against the Detroit Pistons. Whether Embiid makes his season debut that night remains to be seen.