The rest of the NBA was put on notice Tuesday night when reigning league MVP, Joel Embiid, returned to the lineup for the Philadelphia 76ers. While it will take some time for him to get back into the swing of things and develop chemistry with his new teammates, his presence was felt right away.

The 76ers picked up right where they left off, defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder 109-105. It was a huge victory for the team, which is currently in eighth place in the Eastern Conference and stuck in the NBA Play-In Tournament.

However, the circumstances surrounding Embiid’s return to the lineup have drawn the attention of the NBA. According to TNT’s Jared Greenberg, the league is going to investigate how it came about that Embiid was playing after being ruled out on Monday.

As Greenberg shared, it was “a wild 30 hours” for the 76ers. Reports surfaced that Embiid was on the brink of returning, with Tuesday’s matchup against the Thunder being the targeted night. However, the 76ers ruled him out for that game on Monday night.

NBA NEWS & SCORES: Joel Embiid & Philadelphia 76ers Updates

That seemed to be accurate as Embiid didn’t take part in the team’s shootaround on Tuesday. However, 90 minutes before the game was set to start, Embiid was mysteriously upgraded to questionable. The rest is history, as he was in the starting lineup and playing against Oklahoma City.

When talking to former and current players about the Embiid situation, Greenberg reported they all had similar responses. “They all say they’ve never heard of something like this,” Greenberg reported.

This isn’t the first time that the 76ers find themselves in hot water with the NBA for how they have handled Embiid’s injury news. Earlier this season, they were fined $75,000 for “failing to include Joel Embiid on the team’s injury report in an accurate and timely manner” before facing off against the Denver Nuggets on January 27th.

Embiid sat out that game, as he has every season since 2019 when the 76ers have visited the Nuggets. It was a bizarre situation then, as he was scratched minutes before tipoff. This one is odd as well, as the NBA could hand out another fine to the team if any wrongdoing is found.

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