NBA Investigating 76ers Over Tyrese Maxey, Paul George Missing Games

The Philadelphia 76ers have endured a brutal season so far and entered Friday with the fifth-worst record in the entire NBA, a huge disappointment after bringing in Paul George to team up with Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey this offseason. But relief in the form of the end of the year is almost here. Philadelphia needs only to finish off the final month before getting a fresh start in the form of the NBA draft and free agency; the team will keep its first-round pick if it lands in the top six selections.

In the meantime there are games to be played and the Sixers have to fight through the significant pieces absent from the court. Embiid hasn't appeared since February, while neither George nor Maxey has seen the court since March 4. This latter development has reportedly raised the eyebrows of the NBA, who have launched an investigation into the franchise to see if the Sixers are in violation of the Player Participation Policy.

Speaking on the Pat McAfee Show about the Utah Jazz getting fined $100,000 for violating that policy, ESPN's Shams Charania said the league has Philadelphia in its sights as well as a possible offender.

"The NBA is looking at a couple other teams," Charania said when asked what the league could do to combat overt tanking down the home stretch of the season. "I'm told the Philadephia 76ers are another team the NBA has started an investigation on and looked into. Just based on, Tyrese Maxey has missed time, Paul George has missed time... They've looked into Philadelphia a little bit. They'r'e also in a position, they've got a top-six protected pick that could go to Oklahoma City if they don't keep it. This is something the NBA is definitely keeping an eye on."

With no hope for a deep playoff run and the draft pick situation, the Sixers are indeed incentivized to lose as many games as possible down the stretch. The NBA introduced the Player Participation Policy in part to combat blatant tanking and situations such as these. As proven by the league's heavy fine of the Jazz the NBA will not hesitate to dole out penalties if it feels teams are not respecting that policy.

As Charania points out in the above segment, the Sixers' injury issues appear quite legitimate and not a game of smoke and mirrors intended to pile up losses. Time will tell if the NBA agrees.