Congratulations to Joel Embiid for being the MVP in back to back years

[FireMorey]

This feels like loser talk. Embiid had an amazing season and had a great case for the award, but didn't win it. It's not like he got robbed. More people thought Jokic had a better season. It is what it is.

I didn't say he won the MVP, I said he was the MVP. Major difference.

[the_process]

IMO, the even bigger travesty is that Jokic keeps stealing 1st team All-NBA from Jo.

[HardenToSixers]

Jokic is a MINO.

MVP In Name Only. Jokic also gets abused regularly in the playoffs on defense every year. Warriors averaged 118 Pts a game in a five game series and that is with Will Barton and Gordon. Why? He still can't defend basic offense like the pick and roll. He is just too slow and he doesn't want to get out to the perimeter. Furthermore he rarely blocks or alters shots inside.

Is Embiid always great on defense? No. Often he chooses to conserve energy there or is gassed but the point is he can be great when necessary. There is no switch for Jokic to flip. Jokic at the end of the day is a terrific offensive player but it's hard to win when your center is that bad defensively.

regardless of what you think of Jokic's defense and if it's much improved, underrated, etc. he is not a force on that end and Embiid typically is. Should've broken the tie with the elite defensive player and the guy who hadn't won it before. Media voting is a joke.

[HardenToSixers]

the fact that guy is PMing people is hilarious

[Jailblazers7]

I think this award season really hammered home the fact that defense doesn’t matter to voters. It’s honestly kinda crazy to me that Marcus Smart averaged 12/5/6, won DPOY, and was the leader of the second best team in the league but wasn’t really considered a serious candidate for an All NBA team.

[youngcrev]

I think this award season really hammered home the fact that defense doesn’t matter to voters. It’s honestly kinda crazy to me that Marcus Smart averaged 12/5/6, won DPOY, and was the leader of the second best team in the league but wasn’t really considered a serious candidate for an All NBA team.

And for good reason... That would be a laughable selection.

[spikeslovechild]

Kind of glad Jokic is MINO this year. I want Embiid pissed off for G5.

[stormi]

This feels like loser talk. Embiid had an amazing season and had a great case for the award, but didn't win it. It's not like he got robbed. More people thought Jokic had a better season. It is what it is.

"More people" aka keyboard savants whose careers are defined by blue checkmarks, blog posts, and if they're lucky a seat on some pregame show or the abomination that is Sportscenter.

I am no fan of Stephen Jackson, but he summed it up perfectly yesterday:

Read on Twitter

I feel like this year more than ever people are outraged and outspoken about the declaration of this years MVP selection.

It seems like the world knew who the best and most dominant big was this year.

[stormi]

Joel Embiid is a better player on both sides of the ball btw and one day the world will be forced to engage in this discourse.

[Jailblazers7]

I think this award season really hammered home the fact that defense doesn’t matter to voters. It’s honestly kinda crazy to me that Marcus Smart averaged 12/5/6, won DPOY, and was the leader of the second best team in the league but wasn’t really considered a serious candidate for an All NBA team.

And for good reason... That would be a laughable selection.

I don’t disagree, just highlights what’s really valued in the league. He’s voted the best defensive player in the entire league and can’t even sniff an All NBA spot while being avg to above avg on offense.

[eyeatoma]

My king!!

Read on Twitter

https://www.libertyballers.com/2022/5/9/23063291/joel-embiid-sixers-defense-heat-james-harden-jimmy-butler-nba-playoffs

[thenbaman]

Best player in the NBA? That was LeBron, then KD and now it’s Giannis. Embiid has never been the best player in the NBA.

Lol you enjoying the playoffs.

[thenbaman]

:rofl: Keep living in the Fantasy world PHI fans

How's the view,you and joker enjoy watching embiid in the playoffs

[SixthStreet]

What bothers me most is that a big part of Jokic's case is the advance metrics indicating Jokic is one of the best defenders in NBA history. People should understand that defensive analytics are pretty nascent and noisy and don't do a good job capturing and measuring impact. Even Sam Hinkie would tell you that. Not to mention the eye test OBVIOUSLY tells you something is broken in the algorithm if that's what the numbers are telling you.

Otherwise I'm okay with someone voting for Jokic over Embiid. It's okay to disagree.

[brannigan73]

Jokic had an amazing season I honestly cant get all worked up about this. Id rather get to the the ECF finals are farther one year then worry about these awards. And people dont want to here this but if the Sixers had finished at least second in the easter standings Embiid would have won the award imo. Also, he might have won it if the played the same amount of games as Jokic. I know 6 games more is not a ton but this was very close voters were looking at the very closely.

[elchengue20]

I called in March after Biid was umpressive and we lost key games against Brooklyn, Milwakee and Denver.

There was little to no chance for him. And this isnt really a robbery, not even close. Jokic and Giannis had at least as good as cases as him, probably better ones.

It's a shame that this cost us a crybaby performance from him today in a crucial game.

[M2J]

I called in March after Biid was umpressive and we lost key games against Brooklyn, Milwakee and Denver.

There was little to no chance for him. And this isnt really a robbery, not even close. Jokic and Giannis had at least as good as cases as him, probably better ones.

It's a shame that this cost us a crybaby performance from him today in a crucial game.

I actually agree, that Brooklyn game immediately changed perspectives to make him start playing catch-up.

Jokic is an elite MVP caliber player, so it's not the Nash thing. Where he was putting up his same numbers.... Not a MVP talent, but was a catalyst to a good regular season team record wise that wasn't going to win because they couldn't defend. But, in this day and age where media members open talk about "whose turn"it is and voter fatigue, for Jokic to win back to back in a year with so many talented candidates on competing teams is just peculiar.

I mean Westbrook broke the mold on the best player on the best team (or one of them) winning. But, he had an amazing narrative. Not only was he the first to get the triple double since Oscar, which at the time was an accomplishment that was unimaginable in the game today (still only player to actually do it since then). Russell was also the scoring champion! He had the Durant narrative and far exceeded expectations, plus won some big-time showdown games with that team.

Jokic ate up some extra stats from injured teammates. Beat teams they were supposed to in a down western conference, and had some lackluster performances in wins vs some actual good teams. He's basically won 2 in a row for staying covid free.

I mean going into the postseason there was at least a question as to whether Westbrook could upset the Jazz. Meaning, voters belief in the scoring champ to elevate his team, made sense to make him MVP. Not one person thought Jokic could even push the Warriors going into the voting.... Guaranteed first round exit. Never heard so many media members say regular season award so much, considering the hesitancy to give it to Giannis after 2 2nd round flame outs, in MVP campaigns that he had the best record in the league. Peculiar for sure.

[ankle420breaker]

How in the world does Joel fall into these deep sulks in the playoffs year after year? It's the most bewildering thing I've seen in basketball. This guy just sheds all energy and competitive fire amid a close playoff series and gift-wrapps the opposition the upper hand.

I commend him for playing through injuries, but entering the game with such a defeated attitude is inexcusable. He's earning a well deserved reputation as a playoff collapse artist.

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[Ferry Avenue]

How in the world does Joel fall into these deep sulks in the playoffs year after year? It's the most bewildering thing I've seen in basketball. This guy just sheds all energy and competitive fire amid a close playoff series and gift-wrapps the opposition the upper hand.

I commend him for playing through injuries, but entering the game with such a defeated attitude is inexcusable. He's earning a well deserved reputation as a playoff collapse artist.

Sent from my SM-S901U using RealGM mobile app

So you see here where a player's mentality is critical. You're not going to win playoff series against top competition, especially road games, unless your team mentality is top-notch. And team mentality is driven by individual players' mentalities, especially those of the team leaders.

If your "spearhead" player -- in this team's case, Embiid -- is subject to distinct valleys in performance that are driven by a strong mental/emotional component, expect that the team will experience the same valleys in performance and be subject to blowouts like the one last night. All it takes for a blowout of that nature is two evenly matched teams in terms of physical talent, but one of them that's strongly emotionally driven (the Heat) in conjunction with the opposing one that's emotionally flat.

The TNT guys have their finger on the pulse of this every night. They know what the deal is from their playing days.

[mjkvol]

Joel nailed it in his post game comments last night when asked about the MVP:

"Obviously, congrats to Nikola, he deserved it. He had an amazing season. There's no right or wrong. There was a lot of candidates. It could have gone either way. Giannis, Devin Booker being on the best team in the league by far, so I guess every year it's all about whatever you guys decided, whatever fits the narrative as far as who's going to win."

He's right. I always think of 1984, when there were endless stories about Bird not having won one, how this year would be his first. Bernard King went out and had one of the greatest seasons I've ever seen a player have (I watched virtually every game, living in North Jersey at the time), dragging a G-League level roster to the playoffs, and then to game 7 of the ECF. King was the MVP, but Bird was awarded the trophy. It was in the bag all the way.

Just an aside, but at MSG that year was the first time I can remember fans chanting "M-V-P" during games.