Sixers’ Joel Embiid named 2022-23 NBA MVP, first of career

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Sixers’ Joel Embiid named 2022-23 NBA MVP originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

BOSTON — Suffice it to say that Joel Embiid has had a journey.

Born in Yaoundé, Cameroon, Embiid first picked up basketball when he was a very tall teenage volleyball player. He got invited to Luc Mbah a Moute’s camp, flashed potential, moved to Florida for high school hoops, soon found himself picked third in the NBA draft, and sat on the sidelines for two full seasons because of injury before debuting for the Sixers.

Embiid is now the league’s MVP.

The NBA announced Tuesday night that Embiid expectedly came first in this year’s voting after consecutive runner-up finishes to Nuggets star Nikola Jokic.

While the MVP race tends to inspire intense debate, Embiid amassed formidable credentials to become the Sixers’ first MVP since Allen Iverson in the 2000-01 season.

Embiid won his second straight scoring title, averaging 33.1 points on a tremendous, career-best 65.5 true shooting percentage. He only scored under 30 points in 10 of his 66 regular-season appearances and posted over 50 on three occasions.

On both sides of the ball, Embiid was excellent late in close games. He was fearsome to defend from the nail and elbow, showing off wing-like agility, smooth mid-range scoring skills, and faith in his teammates to convert the many open jumpers he could create.

“I think I’m unguardable,” Embiid said in March. “It’s all about using that and trying to make my teammates better. With that comes a lot of double teams and triple teams every single game, so it’s about, how do I make my teammates better every day?”

The Sixers led the NBA with a 38.7 three-point percentage. Thanks in large part to Embiid, they also had the league’s best clutch defensive rating. 

Embiid has called himself a “student of the game.” He’s copied point guards’ open-floor ball handling tricks, meticulously studied Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan and Dirk Nowitzki, and added useful tools every offseason through his work with trainer Drew Hanlen.

Story continues

After Doc Rivers detailed on Tuesday the many ways Embiid has improved on the floor…

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Author : NBC Sports Boston

Publish date : 2023-05-02 23:15:00

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