ESPN Survey Shows Joel Embiid Among MVP Candidates

A recent offseason MVP survey indicates Sixers' Joel Embiid could be a favorite again.

Over the previous two years, Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid has been in contention for the prestigious NBA MVP award, which hasn't been won by a player from the Sixers' franchise since Allen Iverson in 2001.

Last year, Embiid came up short on the award for the second straight season as  Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic won the award for the second straight year, receiving 65 out of 100 votes, which towered over Embiid's 26 votes.

The decision to give Jokic the award stirred much controversy as some felt that the Sixers' center had better numbers, with Jokic averaging 27 PPG, eight assists, and 13 rebounds. 

These stats were comparable to Embiid's league-leading 30.6 PPG, four assists, and 12 rebounds, give or take; some of the Philadelphia faithful had thought their center had gotten robbed.

Some NBA insiders feel as if this trend may become a running pattern for the Cameroonian superstar, as a recent survey conducted by ESPN shows that Embiid isn't the frontrunner for the 2022-23 MVP award.

The survey showed that the Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo is most likely to win the high award, as the Greek forward accumulated five votes while Embiid was tied with Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic with four votes.

Embiid's campaign for MVP begins on Oct. 18 when the 76ers take on the Boston Celtics to kick off their season.

Declan Harris contributes to All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him on Twitter: @DecIanH.

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