PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - MARCH 20: DeMar DeRozan #11 of the Chicago Bulls guards James Harden #1 of the Philadelphia 76ers during overtime at Wells Fargo Center on March 20, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.(Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
“A difficult night for the fellas. It was a tough game. Double Overtime. We were talking about this rough week that the Sixers have in front of them. Beginning with last night and the home and home vs Chicago. Then of course the West Coast trip over the weekend with Golden State, Phoenix, and then Denver. I was hoping to make some hay vs Chicago. Really wanted to get both. Not only do you not get both, but you lose the first one at home in double OT. Man, that was rough. A rough start.
Joel was amazing. 44 minutes, 37 points, 16 boards. You could see how active he was. He fouls out. It was a shame. Melton had a great night. but Man, Harden just had that off night. I ate a bad fish type of night. He played his heart out. But 2-14, 0-6 from the 3-point night. He had one of those games great players will have.
He is the one player that scares me. I mean he is a great player. And he has been playing great ball. I am not going to have one bad game and panic. But he is the guy I always worry about. I know what I am going to get from Embiid. Maxey, I have an idea of what I am going to get. But Harden is so important to this mix… and this year he has done everything you want him to do. He is in great shape. But everything is tied to him. Whether or not they can beat Boston in the second round is all tied to Harden. That is what’s going to keep me up. He is playing great ball, but he is so vital to that team.”
Two years ago Joel Embiid put on a crazy performance. Somehow it was not good enough to win MVP. Last year he played even better, becoming more efficient facing double teams. That still was not enough for him to win MVP. And now for a 3rd straight season, he is putting up historic numbers, while leading his team to a top seed in the competitive Eastern Conference. And it is starting to look like it may finally be enough to bring home the trophy for him. After Nikola Jokic was the odds-on favorite all season, Embiid has suddenly seen the odds flip to his favor. As I write this, Embiid is somewhere around -220 on most Sportsbooks to win MVP.
But now we have to deal with cries of sympathy votes for him getting MVP. Jokic stans and Nuggets fans are preemptively putting Embiid down. Clowns like George Karl and Gilbert Arenas are now trying to paint him as lazy. But none of their tears or their random made-up stats can change how great Embiid is. If Embiid is putting up performances like this, while being “lazy” then he must be the best player of All-Time. Because what he is doing this year is unbelievable. Embiid is without a doubt, the greatest basketball player on the face of this Earth right now. No one is doing the things he does.
And to prove it we are going to use the things Jokic fans love most. Numbers. Not their made-up stats like Raptor. No, real numbers that we can actually explain the meaning of. The eye test will never be enough for them. Because they don’t actually watch basketball to utilize the eye test. So I broke out my calculator to make the MVP case for Joel Embiid using their language. Stats. Here are 5 numbers that more than make the case that Joel Embiid is the MVP.