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Barring a league-wide conspiracy, Philadelphia 76ers big man and superstar Joel Embiid will take home his first MVP award this season after finishing as runner-up to Nikola Jokic over the last two seasons.
It wasn’t always so clear. For much of the season, Jokic was the favorite to take home his third-straight MVP trophy. But a tough end to the season that included a 1-5 stretch in March derailed the Serb’s chances considerably.
Pair that with Jokic’s decision not to take the race seriously — he said on March 24 that he wasn’t interested in the award — and Embiid’s chances opened up considerably. But Embiid doesn’t buy that players don’t care about the award.
“One thing I’ll say is that if people tell you they don’t care about it, they’re lying,” Embiid told Rachel Nichols recently. “That’s the best award you can get as a basketball player, it means a lot. But if I were to win it, it would validate all the work that I put in, that’s why I cared about it, because you put it so much work and if you get that recognition, it just validates that you didn’t wast your time. But like I said, if someone tells you that they don’t care, that’s bulls***.”
It’s no secret Embiid has been campaigning for the award for several seasons now. And it likely matters much more to him since he’s never won it, while Jokic might well be over the vitriolic discourse that’s plagued this season’s MVP race for the opposite reason.
Damian Lillard Sounds Off on Joel Embiid’s MVP Chances
Embiid also finished as the league’s scoring champ, the first center to manage back-to-back scoring titles since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the early 1970s.
As the season wound down, players appeared to speak more openly about supporting Embiid’s candidacy for MVP, including Portland Trailblazers star Damian Lillard.
“I picked Joel Embiid because he’s – I feel like he’s been dominant all season long. His team is winning, I feel like he could’ve won it the last two years,” Lillard said. “I just think because, to me, he’s been the most dominant player. He’s been carrying his team.”
Lillard also argued why Jokic shouldn’t win the award, relying on a less-than-statistically significant piece of evidence.
“You can’t continue to give it to a guy who’s won it twice in a row,” Lillard continued. “Especially when you have a guy like this, that’s performing at the same level or maybe even higher. He also didn’t get it in one of the last two times he was at that level. I just think that’s not how it should work.”
Lillard knows a thing or two about MVP races. The former Weber State guard has featured on several MVP ballots himself, though never higher than third.
Damian Lillard Questions Giannis Antetokounmpo’s MVP Chances
Not only does Embiid not have an MVP award on his resume, but his team is the weakest between Jokic’s Nuggets and Giannis Antetokoumpo (the third favorite) and the Bucks.
“With Giannis, as great as he is, he won those back-to-back MVPS, and that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be able to win it again, but, when you look at the depth of their team, like they’re just so deep, you know they’re going to win a lot of games,” Lillard explained. “You got guys like Jrue Holiday, Khris Middleton, Brook Lopez, Joe Ingles, Bobby Portis. They’re so deep, they’re going to win games, and that doesn’t take the credit away from how great Giannis is, but I just feel like the team success factor is going to be played in, so you also have to consider with just how good that team actually is.”
In fairness, Embiid’s supporting cast doesn’t feature slouches. James Harden was the league’s assist leader and Tyrese Maxey was one of the league’s most efficient shooters this season.
The Sixers are back in action against the Nets on Saturday to kick off the first round of the playoffs.
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