Is Joel Embiid Having The Greatest Season Ever? Pat Bev Thinks So
Joel Embiid is off to a hell of a start this season. In just 34.1 minutes he is averaging 34.8 PTS, 11.8 REBs, 6.2 ASTs, 2.0 BLKs, and 1.2 ASTs per game. He leads the NBA in points, is top 5 in rebounds, and 10th in blocks. And among Centers, he is 2nd in assists. What makes it even crazier is how he is often doing this in just 3 quarters. It is an absurd stat line. And on Pat Bev’s podcast, he recently made a bold claim about just how great Embiid’s season has been.
“If he finishes this season the way he’s playing now, it would be the greatest season of a single player that’s ever played basketball. That doesn’t make you the best big man in the league. That makes you the best MF in the world. Jo is in a world of his own… He is the most dominant player in basketball right now and it’s not even close.”
A bold claim, but is he right? His 34.8 PER would be the best in NBA History if he keeps this up. 1.9 points higher than the 2nd best, which is Nikola Jokic’s 2021-2022 season. He currently averages over a point per minute. The only other player to ever do that was Wilt Chamberlain.
Speaking of Wilt, his 1961-1962 season will likely be what most people who disagree with the claim bring up. And that is fair considering he averaged 50.4 PPG and 25.7 RPG. But it is almost unfair to even compare modern players to that era of Basketball. It was not only a different game, but the entire landscape of the NBA was different back then. Put Embiid, Giannis, Lebron, or another modern star in that era, they might put up numbers like that too.
The caveat of course is that Joel Embiid has played just 26 games. It is still a small sample size. But to Pat Bev’s credit, he did clarify by saying “if he finishes the season the way he is playing now.” And the numbers back that claim up.
We haven’t even talked about his great defense that has the Sixers as the 2nd best defensive team in the league right now. His 108 defensive rating is 4th in the NBA among players playing at least 30 minutes per game. And by the way, he just dropped 50 points on the guy who leads that stat, Rudy Gobert.
Joel Embiid has found yet another level to his game. Somehow he continues to get better every season. Right now, 2 months into the season, he is the runaway favorite to win MVP. Health is always a concern with him. And with the new rules about being qualified for awards, he can’t miss too many games. But if he keeps playing like this, this season will go down as one of the best we have ever seen in NBA history.
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The All-Time Roster of Sixers Players We Underrate
Point Guard- Andre Miller
(Photo by Dave Sandford/Getty Images)
Being the guy who replaces Allen Iverson for the Sixers is a tall task. He was never going to be what AI was. But Millers was as professional as it gets. His presence kept the Sixers at least somewhat relevant for his 3 years here. He played great defense, ran the floor well, and scored 15.9 points per game. That period for the Sixers is pretty forgettable. But Miller at least did his part in giving Sixers fans something to watch.
Shooting Guard- Hersey Hawkins
(Photo by Mike Powell/Getty Images)
The Sixers were not a great team when Hersey Hawkins played for them. They had Charles Barkley, but not much else went well for them. Which of course eventually led to them trading Charles. Which to this day is one of the worst trades in franchise history. But Hersey Hawkins was at least one other player worth appreciating in that era. In his 5 seasons here he averaged 19 points and shot over 40% from 3. And in perhaps one of his best moments with the Sixers, he once got 9 steals in one game against the Celtics. That is still a franchise record, though Allen Iverson matched it twice.
Small Forward- Andre Iguodala
(Photo by Chris Chambers/Getty Images)
Iguodala is one of those players we did not appreciate enough while he was here. And for reasons that are not all his fault. Sixers fans were desperate for a Star Scorer. That is just not who Iggy is. He did a lot of great things and would have made a perfect complement to a theoretical star player if the Sixers had ever landed one. But they never did pair him with that guy, and it put a spotlight on Andre Iguodala that he was not equipped to live up to. Still, he was great for what he is, and we would all love to have someone similar to him on this Sixers team right now.
Power Forward- Thad Young
(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Thad Young was never a star. But what he was is a guy who gave it his all every single night. He even won the NBA Hustle Award later in his career when playing with the Bulls. He averaged 13.7 pts and 5.5 rebounds per game in his 7 years with the Sixers. He even stuck around for a bit into the Process years.
Center- Samuel Dalembert
(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
There are a lot of great Centers in Sixers’ history. Joel Embiid, Wilt Chamberlain, Moses Malone, Daryl Dawkins. It doesn’t leave much room to appreciate other centers. But Samuel Dalembert is worth taking some time to appreciate. Yeah, he was not scoring like those other guys. But for 8 years he gave the Sixers a pretty great rim protector. He averaged 1.9 blocks per game in his Sixers career and even had a few seasons where that number crept up over 2.
6th Man- Kyle Korver
(Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)
This is cheating because Korver also flirted with being a starter here. But what made me pick him was his final year here, where he played in 74 games but started just one. And yet, he led the league in FT% and was 9th in 3pt%. In one game he even scored a career-high 31 points off the bench against the Knicks.
