About half of the sports world is in an uproar because they believe that NBA superstar Joel Embiid was robbed of this year’s Most Valuable Player Award.
For the second consecutive year, Denver Nuggets’ immensely talented center Nikola Jokic´ was voted the league’s MVP over Embiid, even though Jokic’s Nuggets teams have failed to make it out of the first round of the NBA playoffs in back to back seasons.
Back. To. Back.
Nikola Jokic has been voted the NBA’s Most Valuable Player for a second consecutive season, sources tell @wojespn. pic.twitter.com/dDPa13VXlq
— ESPN (@espn) May 9, 2022
The NBA is expected to make the formal announcement of the award later this week, according to ESPN. But the leaked information has already set off Sixers Nation and Embiid fans who saw the charismatic and supremely gifted center have the best season of his career.
To be fair, Jokic´ averaged 27.1 points, 13.8 rebounds and 7.9 assists in 74 games this season. He became the first player in NBA history to ever accumulate 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 500 assists in a single season.
Comparatively, Embiid averaged 30.6 points, 11.7 rebounds and 4.2 assists in 68 games this season and became the first center since Shaquille O’Neal in 2000 to win the league’s scoring title.
This situation is reminiscent of 15 years ago when former Phoenix Suns point guard Steve Nash won the MVP in back-to-back seasons despite never leading the team to the NBA Finals, much less winning a title. Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, who finished second and third to Nash in those years, have nine combined NBA championships and a bag full of league records.
Everyone is gonna look back and feel the same about Jokic and Embiid.
Robbed pic.twitter.com/x3tTENNcgF
— Sixers Nation (@PHLSixersNation) May 9, 2022
Worse, Embiid led his teams further into the playoffs than Jokic´ did again. This scenario causes some folks to question the validity of the MVP trophy when the person who loses the award leads his team to greater heights in the postseason.
Joel Embiid was clearly robbed. He's the true MVP still playing in the conference finals. Yo where's Jokic at? pic.twitter.com/ZOtHOkZmeg
— Henrí A. (@henryatsta) May 9, 2022
If @wojespn sources are right, then you can also expect an investigation from me since @JoelEmbiid was robbed. https://t.co/o9gDgjmY4I
— Josh Shapiro (@JoshShapiroPA) May 9, 2022
Who do you believe deserves the 2021-22 NBA MVP Award?
