This has been a big season for Philadelphia 76ers superstar center Joel Embiid.
He has become the best version of himself by averaging 33.1 points and 10.2 rebounds per game while shooting 54.8 percent from the field in the regular season, and thus he earned his second straight scoring title.
On Tuesday, he also earned the one big individual honor that has thus far eluded him — the NBA MVP award.
Embiid learned of the news while with his teammates, and they were all very happy for him.
The 2022-23 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player 🙌
Congrats, @JoelEmbiid!#NBAAwards | #KiaMVP | @Kia
pic.twitter.com/BVWrfvtWGN— NBA (@NBA) May 2, 2023
This was considered a close MVP race between Embiid, Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks, and the Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic.
A strong argument could be made for each of the three winning the award.
Jokic has won each of the previous two MVPs, and Antetokounmpo took home the prior two MVP awards before that.
Embiid has been a great player for the last several years, but in years past, he has come under fire for not taking good enough care of his body, especially when it came to his conditioning and his diet.
He had been injury-prone, but this season he appeared in 66 games after playing in a career-high 68 contests last season.
Unfortunately, Embiid missed Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Boston Celtics with a sprained knee, and his status for Game 2 is in question.
Without him, the Sixers were able to win Game 1, 119-115, behind a vintage performance from James Harden, who had 45 points, including the game-winning 3-pointer.
If Embiid returns soon enough, perhaps he will end up making his first-ever NBA Finals appearance.
NEXT:
Brian Windhorst Explains How James Harden Dominated The Celtics
