Joel Embiid Receives NBA MVP Support From Bill Simmons

Well-known Boston-focused podcaster Bill Simmons has been the center of attention regarding end-of-year voting for quite some time.

As The Ringer founder is very public with his opinions and doesn’t hold any punches, Simmons has often found himself under fire — especially from figures within the Philadelphia 76ers’ organization.

Following the MVP race last season, which resulted in Nikola Jokic becoming the back-to-back winner, edging out Joel Embiid for the second-straight season, the Sixers’ big man sounded off on Simmons.

Not because of Simmons’ support for Jokic but for his comments on Houston Rockets youngster Jalen Green. Fast forward to January of 2023, and Sixers’ President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey ranted about the “shameless Boston media” that he alleged prevented Embiid from becoming an original starter in the 2023 NBA All-Star Game.

While Morey didn’t single out Simmons as Embiid did, it’s clear that the former Boston-based host is lumped in with those the President of Basketball Ops addressed.

Despite the shots fired back and forth between parties over the past year, it seems it won’t affect Embiid in the MVP race this season.

“If you throw away the first three weeks, two weeks of the season, [the 76ers] are one of the two best teams in the league for the season. They’re one of the two best teams in the league for November, December, January, February, March, April. They’ve been one of the top two or three — no question. That’s it. The narrative thing I think is why I’m probably gonna end up getting there. He will be the first person you think about this season. He’s had a couple moments, which you hate to distill the season down to two, three games, but him kicking Denver’s a** on Saturday at the end of January was a moment. Him putting up 52 even though the Celtics were missing a couple of guys, that was a moment. I think it’s going to end up — I think Embiid’s gonna win — I think I’m gonna end up voting for him.”

Simmons becomes one of the latest voters to publicly endorse Joel Embiid as the MVP.

Everything is trending in the right direction for Joel Embiid to win MVP. However, ESPN’s most recent straw poll indicated that whoever wins won’t do it with a landslide victory.

While Embiid was technically the favorite, he won the votes with just two points. Also, several anonymous straw poll voters made it clear that opinions could change.

Embiid finished the 2022-2023 season on a high note. Many seem to believe that his 52-point outing in the win over the Boston Celtics was enough to seal the deal. Soon enough, we’ll find out if that’s indeed the case or not.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.