Most Valuable Player: Joel Embiid – Philadelphia 76ers
I understand the arguments for Nikola Jokic winning MVP this season given that he is having a better year than he did last season, but Joel Embiid is the favorite and unless he gets hurt, he will be winning this year’s MVP award.
What he has done this season has been unreal from a center and Embiid is currently making history by leading the league in scoring. At the All-Star break, Joel Embiid’s 29.6 points per game lead the league and the last big man to lead the league in scoring over the course of the regular season was Shaquille O’Neal during the 1999-2000 season, a season in which Shaq won MVP.
In 46 games, Embiid has averaged 29.6 points (1st in the NBA), 11.2 rebounds (T-8 in the NBA), 4.5 assists, 1.0 steals, 1.4 blocks and has shot 49.5% from the floor. Joel Embiid currently ranks tied for 13th in the league in double-doubles (28) and is currently third in player efficiency rating.
Joel Embiid has been having a historic season for the Philadelphia 76ers and has posted 12 games with at least 35 points and 10 rebounds, the most in the league. The 76ers’ center also recorded a new career-high in scoring this season with 50 points in just 27 minutes against the Orlando Magic.
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Being the definition of dominance, Joel Embiid has not slowed down against any opponent this season and has single-handedly kept the Philadelphia 76ers’ championship hopes alive. In his last performance before the All-Star break, he dropped 42 points, 14 rebounds, and five assists against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks.
Now, after the Sixers acquired James Harden from the Nets at the trade deadline, Joel Embiid’s value only increases because of the fact that he has one of the best overall guards in the league to help him out.
Recently, ESPN ran a poll with 100 media members of who they would vote for in the league’s MVP race this season and Embiid finished first, receiving 45 first-place votes and 789 total points compared to Nikola Jokic, who finished in second with 43 first-place votes and 754 points.
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This year’s MVP race is very close and still very much undecided at this point, but like other races, it is Joel Embiid’s to lose. Assuming he can continue his dominant pace for the next month, Joel Embiid will join Allen Iverson, Julius Erving, Moses Malone and Wilt Chamberlain as the only players in 76ers history to win the league’s MVP award.
