Joel Embiid's 2024 Stat Line - Games Played, 0. Technical Fouls Accumulated, 1

Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid has not yet debuted in the NBA season, as he is still nursing a meniscus tear he sustained last season. And yet, he’s found a way to get a technical foul.

Yes, that is an actual statistic. Joel Embiid games played: 0. Technical fouls accumulated: 1.

Sunday night, the 76ers faced the Indiana Pacers at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse, and the game went into overtime. With Indiana trailing 114-111 with just over 16 seconds left in the extra frame, Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard stepped up to the free-throw line to shoot two. 

While Embiid wasn’t playing, he was still on the bench with the rest of his teammates, and he sought to make his presence felt. As Nembhard shot his first free throw, Embiid stood just in his peripheral vision and waved a towel in an attempt to distract him. It worked. The guard missed his first shot.

That was all that Embiid did, and fortunately it didn’t affect the outcome of the game in a major way (Philadelphia won 118-114). But that doesn’t mean he didn’t pay any price for his actions.

After the game, the NBA reviewed the play and decided to assess the big man with a technical foul. The league gives license to officials to give a technical to any player for behavior they deem is "detrimental to the game," and while the officials didn't do anything in the moment, the league used its powers to intervene.

The NBA season is less than a week old, and we already have one of the weirdest stats we’ll see all year.