As the league’s top center superstar, Joel Embiid has greatly improved his combat resistance and offensive and defensive strength. Even since the 2020 Bubble Park season, he has scored a league-high 30.5 points so far. However, such an exaggerated performance , still can’t win an annual MVP for him, just because there is another all-around monster in the league: Nikola Jokić…
If there is an NBA player who can perfectly interpret “Always the bridesmaid, never the bride”, it should be Joel Embiid.
Starting before he entered the league, in the 2014 draft, he was supposed to be the No. 1 pick, but he fell to the third overall pick due to a leg injury; The four hole-in-the-box shots in history made Game 7 lore and came back in a feather; the next year, because of Ben Simmons’ classic slam dunk to seek a pass, which indirectly led to the loss to the Eagles, Embiid stopped at the gate of the Eastern Conference Championship again.
As the league’s top center superstar, he has greatly improved his combat resistance and offensive and defensive strength. Even since the 2020 Bubble Park season, he has scored the highest 30.5 points in the league so far. However, such an exaggerated performance, Still can’t win an annual MVP for him, just because there is another all-around monster in the league: Nikola Jokić.
Even if he ranked second in the annual biggest individual award for two consecutive years, he was still unable to be selected for the first team of the year during these two years-just because there were not enough places for the position. This year’s season, it is even more regrettable that because there are only 3 places in the frontcourt of the Eastern District, the Cameroonian, who once again played the MVP performance of the year, was unable to be selected for the All-Star Game as a starter, giving way to Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Durant and Jayson Tatum three superstars.
No matter what the situation is, one of the four top stars of Embiid, Giannis, Tatum and Durant is bound to be left out of the list (although one will be released due to injuries); Embiid, it’s not a good feeling for the big man who always stays with the leaderboard-especially he is currently leading the scoring leaderboard with an exaggerated 33.4 points per game, with a lack of second and third leaders James Harden and Tyrese Maxey for a month. The 76ers climbed to second place in the East, only 2.5 games away from last year’s Eastern champion Celtics.
Even though the frame protection data he was proud of in the past seems relatively mediocre this season, it is still no exaggeration to say that he is the most feared offensive and defensive superstar in the league today. Embiid once scored 101 points in 24 hours and led the Sixers to six consecutive victories. He shot 78% from within 3 feet of the basket and stood on the free throw line about 12 times per game. His shooting percentage has reached the peak efficiency of his career: Even with the highest usage rate in the league, his effective shooting percentage and true shooting percentage are still at career highs.
The above stats beg the question: So powerful, how did he keep getting sidelined for those honors?
Embiid is bound to want to ask, especially after last year’s season, when he was asked if he could win the MVP after playing his career year? “If it happens, that’s fine. If it doesn’t, then I don’t know how to win. I feel like they (voters) hate me. They seem to have different standards for Philly players than everyone else.”
It’s certainly not to suggest that voters or fans really have any displeasure with the soon-to-be 29-year-old big man, a balloon star with 4.9 million votes in the All-Star Game and more often seen in TV commercials; Criticism of his playing style such as flopping from time to time, but Russell Westbrook and James Harden, who have been criticized in the past, still won the MVP of the year. Therefore, for Embiid, his only weakness is his combat resistance.
In fact, his and Stephen Curry’s career trajectories are somewhat similar. After experiencing various injuries in the early stage, their playing rate has already improved significantly in recent years and is quite stable.
For Philadelphia’s number one icon, his real enemy isn’t the media or the pain, but the wall that stands before him: Nikola Jokić. This modern monster, who has already won consecutive MVPs, is generally considered to be the biggest favorite for this season’s MVP. There is no other reason. With his career-high exaggerated efficiency, he averaged 25 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists per game. And led the Nuggets temporarily to the No. 1 position in the Western District, and in terms of playing conditions, Joker even played 7 more games than Embiid.
In addition to him, there are some players who are also eyeing this honor: Luka Dončić, Tatum and Giannis, who has won two consecutive games, are still in the MVP discussion of the year.
However, if Embiid takes the second place again this year, he will set a very rare record: Jerry West, the famous “Logo Lord” of the league, is the only player in the history of the league who has never won the MVP and has consecutively won the MVP. The great star who accompanied the list for three years (1970-72), Embiid will have the opportunity to join this rare club of “uncrowned three consecutive championships” (Logo also won the second place in MVP in other seasons, a total of 4 times, it is simply more pathetic.)