/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72987871/1247883117.0.jpg)
Many fans around the NBA think that Joel Embiid got robbed of the MVP trophy a couple of seasons ago. Philadelphia had the third seed in the East in 2022, and the Denver Nuggets limped into the playoffs as a No. 6 seed.
It was a bit unprecedented for a star in Nikola Jokic, whose team didn’t stack up so well during the regular season, to steal MVP. It’s not that Joker wasn’t worthy — many view the reigning 2023 NBA Finals MVP as bar none, the best player in the sport. Still, Embiid didn’t spend that summer one year ago sulking. He improved his game, came back, and with the help of James Harden and Tyrese Maxey, won his first-ever MVP last spring. And now he’s on pace for even more.
Embiid’s 2023 MVP was well deserved, and he’s now the leader among the latest Straw Poll to hoist back-to-backs.
Joel is averaging a ludicrous (career-high) 35.1 points per game, 11.8 rebounds, (career-high) 5.9 assists, (tying a career-high) 1.9 blocks, (tying a career-high) 1.1 steals, and shooting a career-best 89 percent from the charity stripe on 11.7 FTA per outing. If Joel wins his third consecutive scoring title, something he’s also on pace to do, he’d make the type of history his former teammate James Harden once made.
After one of the Sixers’ signature wins of the year, knocking off the West’s first-placed Wolves, 127-113, superstar Anthony Edwards had high praise for Philadelphia’s brightest NBA star.
“My brother was just texting me like, ‘I ain’t ever seen nothing like it.’ He’s unstoppable, man,” Edwards said after the Sixers’ big home win. “I don’t see how they lose a game, honestly.”
Fair point. Joel dropped 51 points, 12 boards, three dimes, two steals and a block. The dude has been an absolute wrecking ball. The team is 275-143 all time with the center in the lineup, and they’re now 19-5 when he suits up this season. So Edwards isn’t far off in his glowing assessment.
Karl-Anthony Towns was active and you know KAT has a bit of a history going back and forth with the Sixers in his career.
Towns added that he felt his team could have played more physically with the MVP.
“I think we could’ve been a little more physical on him,” Towns said after the loss. “Just making tough shots. When you’re making shots like that consistently, midrange was working for him. Got to the free-throw line a lot. It’s just — he’s a good player.”
Chris Webber vs. Kevin Garnett in a do-or-die, buzzer-beating moment needs a deep rewind
It’s 2004, and the Sacramento Kings and Minnesota Timberwolves are in the final seconds of a prolonged, testy battle to determine who advances in the playoffs to face the mighty Los Angeles Lakers. Poetically, the deciding moment — either overtime or game over — comes down to a fascinating, longstanding matchup: Kevin Garnett vs. Chris Webber. To appreciate this moment, we should understand the intertwined history of those two revolutionary players.
If there was ever a prime example of damning by faint praise, this is it.
Towns calling Joel a “good player” when he himself is only 3-8 vs. Embiid in his entire career, is well, Lol. KAT’s former teammate, perennially All-NBA worthy Jimmy Butler certainly has no qualms calling Joel great. And Edwards is also a true superstar and had no issues giving up some props to the Big Fella.
It’s OK, KAT — we still remember you even though it’s Edwards’ team now. You don’t have to slight anyone better than you to feel better.
Contrastingly, when Embiid was given the chance to talk about the game, he was only too enthusiastic to spread some love around to his teammate, Tyrese Maxey.
Maxey dropped 35 points and had the crowd going crazy on multiple occasions following spectacular plays. Look at this emotion the diminutive budding All-Star exudes:
“He’s been doing it all season,” Embiid said. “That’s our guy. Fourth quarter we know where the ball’s gonna go. We’re gonna go to Tyrese. He plays the full quarter so he gets hot. He’s been carrying us all season long in the fourth quarter so we just know we just gotta give him the ball and get the ball in his hands.”
Next up on the slate is the Raptors at home, followed by the Heat on the road. If they’re able to win those next two games, they’ll have a shot to bump the Orlando Magic back in the standings a bit. The upstart Magic have been breathing down the Sixers’ necks.
But we know names like Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and others have long been tremendous admirers of Embiid’s game. And it certainly sounds like Joel has converted the top star on the Western Conference’s top team, Anthony Edwards, so far.
GET MORE NEWS HERE
