MIAMI — The Philadelphia 76ers currently have much bigger issues to worry about following a disheartening 120-85 loss to the Miami Heat on the road on Tuesday, but there is one lingering issue concerning Joel Embiid and that was losing out on the MVP award to Nikola Jokic.
Embiid had himself an incredible season, but Jokic had an equally impressive season and the Nuggets star won the MVP award for the second consecutive season.
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When asked about losing out on the award again, Embiid started off by congratulating Jokic, but he then went on a long rant about media members and the way the MVP voting works:
This is something that I knew weeks ago. Even probably two weeks before the season ended after those games whether it was against Denver or Milwaukee. I just knew it wasn’t gonna happen. Obviously, congratulations to Nikola. I have served it. He had an amazing season. There’s no right or wrong, there was a lot of candidates, it could’ve gone either way. Giannis (Antetokounmpo), Devin Booker being on the best team in the league by far. I guess every year, it’s all about whatever you guys (the media) decide. Whatever fits the narrative as far as who’s gonna win.
Embiid then turned his attention to Bill Simmons of The Ringer and the comments he made about Houston Rockets rookie Jalen Green in terms of the Rookie of the Year award:
The only thing I’ll sat about these awards is that, I don’t know how to explain it, but I go back to what I heard on the podcast about Bill Simmons basically saying, it sounded like he had a grudge against somebody saying “F Jalen Green”. If we’re gonna allow these types of people to vote for these awards, that’s not fair. What if Jalen Green was in a position to earn a supermax or, I don’t know, an All-Star appearance, you got someone sounding like that and he has a lot of power. He can sway other media members and you got someone saying this type of stuff. I don’t think it’s fair, I don’t think it’s OK, so that’s really the only thing I’ll say about those awards.
With that being said, Embiid is now more focused than ever on the Sixers and their quest for a title. Philadelphia now faces elimination and he will have to lead the way in Game 6:
I’m not mad, but that’s two years in a row. I put myself in that position, it didn’t happen, it’s almost like at this point, it’s whatever. Whatever happens happens. Last year, I campaigned about it. This year, I answered questions when I was asked and the next few years until I retired, it’s almost like me, it’s just, I don’t know. I don’t know what else I have to do to win it and to me, it’s just at this point, it’s whatever. It’s all about focusing, not that I wasn’t focused on the bigger picture, but it’s really time to really put my energy into the bigger picture which is to win the whole thing.
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