Joel Embiid deserved the MVP.
He led the league in scoring…in the regular season. He led the Sixers to the same number of wins as Denver…in the regular season.
Let’s stay consistent: the MVP is a regular season award. For years, we’ve picked the best narrative over the best player in the league. We’ve seen it before.
But what we never seen before is Nikola Jokic. There was a feeling in the stomachs of every voter that Jokic would be in too rare or company with a third straight MVP.
Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell is that company. MJ never did it. LeBron never did it. Can you imagine the kind of player it would take to do something like that?
Now open your eyes.
Jokic is a 7-foot Larry Bird. He just broke Wilt Chamberlain’s 56-year single postseason triple double record. And he’s the only player since Bill Russell to drop a 20-20-10 triple-double against the Lakers in the playoffs.
When Jokic said he didn’t care about winning the MVP, he meant it. Because he is that guy making the ultimate leap for the ultimate prize.
So yes, Jokic isn’t the MVP.
He’s the best player in the world, and he’s going to his first NBA Finals...
Among duos with at least 500+ minutes played together, here are the top Net Ratings in the NBA:
1. Joker + MPJ, +14.4
2. Curry + Looney, +14.0
3. Joker + AG, +13.9
4. Joker + Jamal, +13.9
5. Joker + KCP, +13.1
6. Jamal + KCP, +13.1
7. Ja + Konchar, +13.0
8. Brooks + Adams, +12.8