Getty Daryl Morey of the Philadelphia 76ers
On the March 10 episode of “The Lowe Post,” ESPN’s Zach Lowe called out the behavior of the Philadelphia 76ers‘ president of basketball operations, Daryl Morey, for the way he’s pushed for naming Joel Embiid this year’s Most Valuable Player.
“Do not yell and scream like someone voting for the guy that’s not on your team is a f****** moron who knows nothing about basketball and life because they happen to think Giannis is the MVP and not Jokic,” Lowe said. “I am specifically talking about people like Daryl Morey, who has frankly been juvenile on Twitter.”
Lowe also demanded that Morey stop using antagonizing images to mock those who disagree with Embiid should be named MVP.
“Daryl Morey is a steward of the game. He’s the general manager of the Sixers. Stop making fun of people who might vote for someone other than Embiid, as if they’re morons, with your silly tweets of children playing little square peg, round hole game,” Lowe said, referencing a March 7 tweet from Morey.
media: “The MVP should come from one of the best teams in the league”
how they choose when their preferred candidate barely avoids the play-in tournament:
Joel Embiid Says He Doesn’t Care About Awards
After the Sixers defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves on March 7, Embiid downplayed a desire to win awards.
“It doesn’t necessarily motivate me, but it’s the same thing with every big in the league,” Embiid said before referencing the Timberwolves’ Ray Gobert, a three-time defensive player of the year. “It doesn’t matter who I play. I just feel like I’m going to do my thing regardless. I’m going to dominate. It’s no disrespect to any of them. MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, that doesn’t mean anything to me. I’m still going to be the best player on the floor.”
Embiid said he didn’t know who could be the front-runner for this year’s MVP award. He has finished second in MVP voting in each of the past two seasons, losing both times to the Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic.
“That’s not for me to answer,” he said.” I feel like, obviously, being in the running for the last few years has been whatever, and this year I’ve taken a different approach, trying to focus on the right things: win games, dominate, which I’ve been doing. Whatever happens, happens. Obviously, it would mean a lot to win one. That’s the best award anyone can get, but, like I said, I’m just focused on making sure on, first of all, staying healthy, winning games and dominating.”
Joel Embiid Appears No. 4 in Latest MVP Rankings
In NBA.com’s March 3 MVP power rankings, Embiid fell to no. 4, behind Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks and Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics.
Michael C. Wright said Embiid’s performance against the Dallas Mavericks on March 2 proved why he’s in the top five.
“Embiid held his own and dominated inside during Thursday’s loss to Doncic and the Mavericks, as Philadelphia outscored the home team 60-34 in the paint with the Sixers big man contributing 35 points (13-for-21 shooting) with eight rebounds and two steals.”
Wright said Embiid’s toughness kept him at No. 4 in the rankings, ahead of the Dallas Mavericks’ Luka Doncic, who had 42 points and 12 assists in Dallas’ 133-126 win.
“Despite the setback in Dallas and the fact Philadelphia has now lost three of its last four games, Embiid maintains his standing above Doncic in this race. The 28-year-old admirably continues to fight through foot issues while carrying his team, which is currently No. 3 in the East. Before hitting this latest rough spot, Philadelphia had won five in a row.”