Joel Embiid (illness) was ruled out ahead of the Sixers' matchup against the Wizards in Washington. However, with April 1 marking April Fool’s Day, “Troel Embiid” — Joel’s shenanigator alter ego — took the opportunity to have a bit of fun with his fanbase.
Embiid’s absence was first reported by Ky Carlin and later confirmed on the team’s official injury report, which was released just minutes later. In response, Embiid took to Twitter, claiming he was "planning to play," despite the team officially listing him as OUT.
Embiid initially told reporters that he had played through an illness after the Sixers' Monday night loss to the Miami Heat. He had not appeared on the report leading up to the game, but cited the illness after a disappointing effort by the entire team in the loss. Even in the initial injury report for the Wizards game, there was no mention of the illness.All signs point to no. As of this writing, the Sixers have not changed Embiid’s status across multiple injury report updates following his tweet. In all likelihood, this is a proud troll having a bit of fun on what is essentially a national holiday for him.
If Embiid does not play, effectively nothing happens. Nothing more than a trolling tweet, and there is no recourse for that according to the NBA's rules and regulations. If Embiid were to play, things would almost certainly be different.
While it's not impossible for Embiid to miraculously be upgraded ahead of the matchup, NBA teams are discouraged from flippantly listing players as out if there is any chance they will play. The Sixers are familiar with this, as they were fined $100k for repeatedly violating the league's injury-reporting rules, specifically regarding Joel Embiid.
If Embiid approached the team and said he wants to play, it's highly unlikely they would deny him, but there are repercussions for that decision. The Sixers certainly wouldn't be thrilled to pay yet another fine and endure the negative publicity that would accompany such a punishment, especially as a repeat offender.
