NBA GMs Show Lack of MVP Love for Sixers’ Joel Embiid
The 2022-2023 season will begin shortly. As the new basketball year approaches, NBA general managers participated in a league-wide survey, voting for their award favorites. Considering the Philadelphia 76ers employ a few stars, they were relevant in this year’s survey.
Sixers center Joel Embiid is one of the top players in the league. Over the last couple of seasons, the veteran big man has been relevant in the MVP conversation.
It seems Embiid is expected to be on pace to be in MVP talks once again this season in the eyes of the GMs. According to the survey, Embiid came top-three in voting for who GMs believe will win Most Valuable Player next year. However, Embiid is not the favorite.
Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic earned 48 percent of the votes. Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo was second with 34 percent of the votes. Meanwhile, Embiid raked in 14 percent of the votes, just in front of Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry.
Once again, Embiid earns a lack of MVP votes in the preseason survey. Despite being the league’s MVP runner-up over the last two seasons and leading the NBA in scoring last year, front office leaders don’t seem to believe Embiid will have similar success in 2022-2023.
Beyond the MVP Vote
In addition to MVP votes, Embiid was also top three in voting for the best center in the NBA. Unsurprisingly, he came second next to Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic.
With just 17 percent of the votes, Embiid loses to Jokic by a landslide. While some argue Embiid is the better all-around player, the Sixers center hasn’t beaten out Jokic for the MVP hardware over the last two seasons. If Embiid can’t defeat Jokic in the actual MVP race, it’s hard for general managers to justify that the Sixers center is the better big over Jokic.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.
