Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton Considers Embiid the NBA MVP

With the regular season in the rearview, the NBA will soon determine which players will win the yearly personal awards. For the second season in a row, Philadelphia 76ers fans are paying close attention as one of their own is in the running for the league's most important award; the Most Valuable Player.

Last season, Sixers center Joel Embiid was considered a favorite to win MVP as soon as the conversation and debates started. At the All-Star break, Embiid was unquestionably the favorite.

Unfortunately, a post-All-Star injury sidelined Embiid for a long stretch. During that time, Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic continued dominating. As Jokic remained healthy all season long and never took his foot off the gas, he surpassed Embiid as the favorite.

When the final votes were in, Jokic had the edge over Embiid. Therefore, the Nuggets center collected his first MVP accolade while Embiid placed behind him as the runner-up. Using last year's results as motivation, Embiid returned motivated to be better and healthier than ever.

Embiid succeeded with his plan. Not only did he play a career-high of 68 games this season, but Embiid led the league in scoring as he averaged over 30 points per game. Will it be enough for him to win MVP? It's unclear who the media will select.

However, Indiana Pacers standout Tyrese Haliburton is sure he would select the Sixers' big man if he had a say in the matter.

Haliburton Selects Embiid

Idk about DPOY and ROY but Joel MVP, Tyler 6MOTY, JP MIP
— Tyrese Haliburton (@TyHaliburton22) April 12, 2022

Lately, Embiid's garnered a lot of support from his competitors. On Tuesday morning, it was revealed that Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant believes that Embiid is the league's Most Valuable Player.

While Durant believes there is certainly a scenario where Jokic or even Giannis Antetokounmpo win the hardware due to reasons that he believes are "not fair," Durant thinks that Embiid is the most deserving.

As it turns out, Haliburton sees it the same way, which isn't a total shock. In the three matchups Embiid played against Haliburton this season, Philly's big man had dominant performances. When Haliburton was with Sacramento, Embiid snagged 36 points and 12 rebounds in 34 minutes.

In the two matchups Embiid faced Haliburton and the Pacers, the five-time All-Star produced over 80 points in both games combined. In the final matchup against Indiana last Saturday, Embiid became the only player to notch over 40 points and at least 20 rebounds this season.

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