Henry Roldán
What was another great season for Joel Embiid with the Philadelphia 76ers ended in the same way as last year’s: without the NBA MVP award.
In his first statements following the official announcement of Nikola Jokic as the MVP of the 2021-2022 season, Embiid strangely did not hesitate to express his feelings on the matter after the 76ers’ Game 5 loss to the Miami Heat in the East semifinals.
“Last year I campaigned about it, this year I answered all the questions when they asked me….. like I said, I wonder what else I have to do to win it. It’s really time to really put all my energy into the bigger picture, which is to win the whole thing.”
Joel Embiid, at press conference, on the MVP award.
The Cameroonian finished second in the voting despite leading the league with 30.6 points per commitment, a personal best that made him the first center to lead the NBA in scoring since Shaquille O’Neal did it in 2000.
Joel Embiid also played the most minutes since he came into the league six seasons ago with 33.8, averaged 11.7 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game, while leading Philadelphia to 51 games won, three more than the Nuggets.
“Obviously, congratulations to Nikola [Jokic]. He has had an incredible season, and he deserved it. There were a lot of possible candidates, me, Giannis and even Devin Booker. So, I guess, every year is all about whatever you guys decide.”
Joel Embiid on Nikola Jokic MVP.
Nikola Jokic won comfortably over Joel Embiid
While Joel Embiid closed the gap a bit from last season’s vote, Nikola Jokic once again pulled away from him by a good margin among voters.
While for the 2020-2021 season Jokic drew 91 first-place votes out of 101, this time around the Denver player drew 65 first-place votes to 26 for the 76ers player, beating him in points by 875 to 706.
If we talk about individual awards, obviously this is the most important one Embiid lacks in his short but brilliant career, as he has five All-Star Game call-ups, three selections to the All-NBA team, one selection to the 2016-2017 All-Rookie Team and three picks to the league’s All-Defensive Team.
