Joel Embiid Surpasses 76ers Legend With Latest NBA Honor

On Tuesday, the NBA released its latest Player of the Month winners for December. In Western Conference, Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic took home the honors. For the Eastern Conference, Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid was the winner.

Tuesday’s victory for Embiid marked the fifth time the big man collected the monthly award in his career. With that, Embiid officially surpasses 76ers legend and Hall of Famer Allen Iverson for the most Player of the Month awards in Sixers' history.

The last time Embiid took the title was last February when he was named the Player of the Month for January 2022. At the time, Embiid became the first Sixer to earn the monthly award two times in a row. At that point, he had tied Iverson for the most monthly awards in franchise history.

Embiid’s back-to-back monthly awards last season looked good on his MVP campaign. Mixing that with leading the NBA in scoring for the first time in his career, Embiid had a strong case to be named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player in 2022.

Unfortunately, for the second-straight season, the Sixers’ big man lost that title to Denver Nuggets' big man, Nikola Jokic. Perhaps, Philadelphia’s center will see different results this season as his MVP campaign is heating up once again.

For the second-straight season, Embiid was named Player of the Month for his December performance. Playing in all 13 games for the Sixers in December, Embiid helped lead the Sixers to a 9-4 record, which included a season-long win streak of eight games.

During the stretch, Embiid averaged 35 points, ten rebounds, four assists, one steal, and two blocks per game. His totals of 460 points, 129 rebounds, and 23 blocks make him one of four players to achieve similar numbers over the span of 13 games, joining the elite company of Moses Malone, Bob McAdoo, and Shaquille O’Neal.

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