Making him sit on a fake medical issue is very bad, even though they wanted better draft picks and ensure Dame isn’t injured during that time to possibly trade him. That’s just straight up illegal in the NBA.

Maybe it a fake injury or an injury that Dame thought he could have played through but the team did not want him to aggravate. I am sure we know what story the Blazers will tell the league.

I am not sure the league can police if a player was actually injured or not. I am sure that just about every player has some ache, pain, or old injury that is bothering him and by playing and not resting, the player is slowing the healing process and risking the injury getting worse. Often players are told not to play by a doctor even though that player is still capable of playing due to being at risk for a serious injury (due to a partial bone fracture, for example).