Joel Embiid (29) of the Philadelphia 76ers was selected as the 2022-2023 NBA regular league MVP (Most Valuable Player). Washing away the regret of finishing second in the MVP vote for the previous two seasons in a row, he was awarded his first honor. The 76ers produced an award 22 years after Allen Iverson (guard) in the 2000-2001 season.
Embiid received 915 points as a result of the vote announced by the NBA Secretariat on the 3rd, beating Denver Nuggets’ Nicola Jokic (674 points) and Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo (606 points) to take first place.
Embiid received 1st place votes from 73 people, 2nd place votes from 25 people, and 3rd place votes from 2 people out of a media poll consisting of 100 American and Canadian sports reporters and broadcasters covering the NBA. The MVP is selected by giving points (10 points for 1st place, 7 points for 2nd place, 5 points for 3rd place, 3 points for 4th place, and 1 point for 5th place) to five players who have the right to vote.
Embiid (213cm), a 7-year-old center from Cameroon, shed tears after confirming that he had been chosen as the MVP through a live broadcast on TNT in the US. His teammates, including James Harden, celebrated by chanting “MVP.” Embiid became the first African-born player to win the award since Hakeem Olajuwon (Nigeria/Houston Rockets) in 1994. Olajuwon was the first non-American MVP. ㅋㅋㅋ벳
Embiid averaged 33.1 points (1st), 10.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists in 66 of 82 games this season. He also contributed defense with steals (1.0) and blocks (1.7). The 76ers finished 3rd in the Eastern Conference in the regular season this season, and in the 1st round of the playoffs they defeated the Brooklyn Nets to advance to the 2nd round. Embiid missed Game 1 of Round 2 against the Boston Celtics on the 2nd due to a right knee injury, but the 76ers won 119-115.
Embiid also ranked first in scoring (30.6 points) in the regular league last season and became the ‘center scorer’ in 22 years since Shaquille O’Neal (then LA Lakers, average 29.7 points) in the 1999-2000 season. However, he gave up the MVP award to the Nuggets’ Yo Kichi (28, 211 cm). Yokichi, who was highly regarded for his team contribution, won two consecutive MVP awards following the 2020-2021 season.
This season, Embiid has been evaluated as ahead of Jokic (24.5 points, 11.8 rebounds and 9.8 assists). ESPN, an American sports media outlet, reported that Embiid was the first MVP since Moses Malone (then Houston Rockets) in 1982 to simultaneously achieve an average of 30 points, 10 rebounds, and a 50% field goal success rate per game. Thirteen players received at least one vote in this year’s MVP vote. LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers didn’t get a single vote.