Doc Rivers Disappointed With Jokic Winning MVP Over Embiid

All throughout the 2021-2022 NBA season, Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid has garnered attention as a potential MVP winner.

Similar to last season, Embiid was in a race for the award, competing with Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic.

Last year, Jokic was crowned the winner at the end of the season. At the time, it was believed that Embiid lost out on the award due to his lack of availability.

This season, Embiid couldn't be knocked for the same thing. While he did miss a stretch of nine games in November due to a battle with COVID-19, the big man played a career-high of 68 games during the regular season.

Not only did Embiid stay relatively healthy throughout the year, but he also became the first center since Shaquille O'Neal to lead the NBA in scoring as he put up a career-high of 30.6 points per game this year.

Embiid's case to win Most Valuable Player was strong. Unfortunately, it seems that he didn't do enough to win over the voters, though.

On Monday morning, ESPN's NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski reported that for the second-straight season, Nikola Jokic will earn MVP honors. And once again, Embiid will finish as a runner-up, which is something that shocked and disappointed his head coach, Doc Rivers.

Rivers' Reaction to Embiid's Loss

“I was obviously disappointed," said Rivers on Tuesday morning. "Clearly, Jokic is a great player and Giannis. Those three guys — I guess Booker was in there as well. I was surprised, though. I actually thought Joel would win but let’s win it. Then everything else will follow then.”

Last season, Embiid's lack of availability throughout the year was a valid reason for the big man to miss out on winning the award, especially since Jokic was healthy and available for his team for all 72 games. This season, though, Rivers is unsure of how Embiid missed out on garnering the trophy.

“I don’t know if a guy could’ve done more than he did this year," Rivers added. "He played without the second-best player all year. Listen, his resume was great. I’m not taking anything away from Jokic either, he’s a hell of a player. You know, I do think this whole analytic-driven society is out of control sometimes. The measures that they use, you know, like, watch the dang game and decide is what I always said. At the end of the day, if Joel would have won, which I thought he should have, then there would have been criticism that way. Only one guy can win, unfortunately.”

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

More Sixers News:

Joel Embiid Comes Up Short: According to a report, Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic has won the NBA’s Most Valuable Player Award for the second season in a row. Once again, Sixers center Joel Embiid is expected to be considered the runner-up for the award. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE.

James Harden Lifts Sixers Past Heat: The Sixers took on the Miami Heat for the Game 4 matchup of their second-round series on Sunday night. With a big scoring night from James Harden, the Sixers managed to even the series score at two before going back to Miami. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE.

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