Hoop BlahSon of Len No conspiracy theory needed.
My cousin's husband used to play basketball in the NBA here in the States. One time (at least) in the twilight of his career he was listed as injured, although he clearly wasn't. In that case, the NBA team used the disabled list to store him (due to limits on teams' active rosters) in case he was needed.
I'm sure 2ww1wc's theory is spot on, although not conspiratorial, which gives the impression of underhandedness.
We don't have any daft rules to get round by making up injuries though so apart from protecting Murty's ego there would be nothing to be gained from making up a fake injury.
For what it's worth I think Murty is a big enough kind of guy to accept being dropped and wouldn't hide behind a fake injury, especially as his teammates would know it's a load of rubbish.
All the other players dropped took it on the chin and I don't see any reason why Murts would receive special treatment.
Unless he was injured...