Kevin Durant Would Give Sixers Center Joel Embiid NBA MVP

This season, Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant has had some pretty heated moments going against Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers.

Over the last couple of games, the two stars have been spotted jawing at each other as they are both ultra-competitive and want to win.

But just because Embiid and Durant exchange their words on the court doesn't mean the two All-Stars lack respect for each other.

In fact, the situation is quite the opposite. Recently, Durant had nothing but heavy praise for Embiid. As the former MVP heard Embiid compare himself to legends of the game, Durant agreed with the Sixers center's description of himself. 

"It's a fun dynamic, but it's a b**** to play against because he's tough," said Durant. He's tough to deal with. He's really unstoppable. He said something where he was like, 'I can transform from like Kobe to Hakeem, to Shaq, to a couple of other players.' And I was like, 'Yo, you're telling the truth.' I feel like he can play on all spots from the floor. He's effective from everywhere, and he's a big body." 

Throughout the year, Embiid has been in the NBA MVP conversation for the second season in a row. Last year, he was a favorite to win the award but after getting sidelined with several injuries multiple times, Embiid's lack of availability swayed voters. 

Ultimately, Nuggets center Nikola Jokic won the award. This year, both big men are in the conversation once again. And as the regular season winds down, Durant revealed the few prospects he deems worthy of winning the award. 

Durant Chooses Embiid

“If I had to take a guess, I will go, it’s between Joel Embiid, DeMar DeRozan, Ja Morant for me, those are my top three,” Durant said, according to USA Today's Nets Wire. “And I’ll probably go Joel. It’s, I mean (Nikola) Jokic, you could throw Jokic in there, but I’ll probably go Joel. I mean there are so many players playing at a high-level man, so like I said the other day, the league’s in a great place.”

Embiid and the Sixers still have 11 games left to go in the season. While there is plenty of time left for players to state their final case, Philadelphia's star center is surely near the front of the line if he isn't already in the lead for the major accolade.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.