Here's What Joel Embiid Had To Say About Not Winning MVP This Season

Philadelphia 76ers’ center Joel Embiid was a finalist for this year’s MVP award that was reportedly won by Denver Nuggets’ center Nikola Jokic. Here is what Embiid had to say in regards to not winning the award.

The 2021-22 NBA MVP award is the final award to be given out this season, but the winner of this season’s MVP award was released earlier this week.

Denver Nuggets’ big man Nikola Jokic has been voted the NBA’s Most Valuable Player for a second consecutive season, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

All season long, Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid battled back-and-forth with one another at the top of the rankings for the league's MVP award and while both are very worthy candidates, Jokic led the league in more statistical categories than Embiid and single-handedly led the Nuggets to the playoffs with a 48-34 record.

Obviously this is a frustrating scenario though for the 76ers and Embiid, especially given that they finished with 51 wins this year and their All-Star big man led the league in scoring, becoming the first center to lead the NBA in scoring since Shaquille O’Neal did it during the 1999-00 season.

Following their loss to the Miami Heat in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals on Tuesday night, Joel Embiid was asked in his postgame press conference about his reaction to the results of the MVP race this season.

“This is something I knew weeks ago, even probably two weeks before the season ended, after those games against Denver and Milwaukee, and when [ESPN’s Tim Bontemps] did his straw poll or whatever.” Embiid said in regards to finishing behind Nikola Jokic for MVP this season. “I just knew it wasn’t going to happen. Obviously congrats to Nikola [Jokic]. He deserved it, he had an amazing season. There’s no right or wrong. There was a lot of candidates. It could have gone either way.

“I don’t know what else I have to do to win it. To me it’s just whatever, it’s all about – not that I wasn’t focusing on the bigger picture, but it’s really time to really put all my energy into the bigger picture, which is to win the whole thing.”

The 76ers lost on the road in Miami 120-85, falling in Game 5 and they are now trailing 3-2 to the Miami Heat in this semifinals series. Embiid seemed off in this game both emotionally and mentally and he looked like he was not ready to play on Tuesday night.

Joel Embiid finished with just 17 points and 5 rebounds in 33 minutes against the Heat in Game 5, putting the 76ers’ backs up against the wall.

Focusing on the “bigger picture” instead of the MVP award, Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers will now have to win a game at home and a game on the road in Miami in order to keep their season and title hopes alive this year.