Cameroonian power forward Joel Embiid (Sixers) named NBA MVP
Philadelphia Sixers’ Cameroonian center Joel Embiid was chosen Tuesday as the NBA’s MVP (Most Valuable Player), an award he won quite clearly over the rest of the candidates.
Top scorer of the season
Embiid has been the season’s leading scorer with 33.1 points, a statistic he has complemented with 10.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.7 blocks and 1.0 steals per game.
The fifth MVP in Sixers history.
These statistics helped him become the first to win it with the Sixers since Allen Iverson in 2001, the fifth in the franchise after Iverson, Julius Erving, Moses Malone and Wilt Chamberlain, and the second African after Nigeria’s Hakeem Olajuwon, who won it in 1994 with the Houston Rockets.
73 of the 100 possible votes
The Cameroonian garnered 73 of 100 possible first-choice votes, comfortably beating the winner of the last two years, Denver Nuggets’ Serbian center Nikola Jokic, who got 15 first-place votes, and Milwaukee Bucks’ Greek forward Giannis Antetokoumpo, winner in 2019 and 2020, who totaled 12.
He has played four consecutive All-Star Games
Joel Embiid has played in the NBA since 2014. He was selected in the 2014 NBA draft in the third pick by the Philadelphia 76ers. After missing his first two seasons due to injuries, Embiid finally made his debut in the 2016-2017 season and was selected to the All-Star Game in his first full season. Since then, he has been selected to four consecutive All-Star Games and has been selected to the All-NBA first team twice.
