Joel Embiid has separated himself from the pack in the MVP race and at his current pace he could be the first true big man to secure the award in over a decade.
Joel Embiid is not only the 76ers best player but he is the cornerstone of “The Process”. Over the years, Embiid has been called into question more than once over his ability to stay healthy, perform at the highest level and elevate the team to become championship contenders. Philadelphia media loves to stir the pot and the duo of Embiid and Simmons have been an easy target for years. While some of their claims about his conditioning may have been valid, they were overexaggerated and used to discredit the MVP caliber player Embiid has become. Prior to Embiid, the Sixers were a middling team that were always going to make the playoffs, lose in the first or second round and then fizzle out for a middle tier draft pick doomed to rinse and repeat the next year. Actively looking for swings at the top of the draft landed a seven foot center from Kansas and completely altered the franchise for the better. In the period that Embiid was recovering from his navicular bone injury, the Sixers were awful with a purpose and their patience paid off. As the team has seemingly began treading water in the top four of the Eastern Conference, questions after last season began to rise again doubting the Sixers star. However, with a new coach, new system and new floor spacing, Embiid finally has the structure and accountability he needs to propel this team to the next level. As it stands, he should be the favorite to win the MVP and as his performance continues to elevate the team, no one should doubt that on his back the franchise could be back in the finals for the first time since 2001.
1. Conditioning
Who has had a more controversial pregame ritual than the Sixers big man? I would argue no one. Up until this year Embiid was recieving footrubs and eating cheeseburgers to warmup before important games. His love for Chick-Fil A and Shirley Temples drove radio hosts, fans and analysts mad while the organization passively supported his decisions and did not actively work to put him on a conditioning program. Even as the Sixers continued to improve over the years “The Process” found himself poorly conditioned and unable to carry the load of a team that desperately needed him in crunch time. Brett Brown was the coach that the team needed to get them through their worst seasons but a culture change was needed to refocus the team before any real playoff success could occur.
Since the team was swept by Boston in the playoffs, Brown has moved on and Doc Rivers has assumed the role of head coach. Under Rivers, driven by their embarrassing bubble run and inspired by his new coach Embiid recommitted himself to the game and noted that conditioning was a main focus of the shortened offseason. In the first quarter of the season, it seems that he wasn’t just playing nice with the media and put in the work to back up his claims. Holding steady around 30 minutes a game, as he should, there have been no signs of him slowing down toward the end of the game and many could argue that he has elevated his play in crunch time. Something the team has lacked since he began his Sixers tenure. His ability to play thirty inspiring minutes a game has also allowed him to lead the MVP conversation. One of the main things “holding him back” from being a perennial All-NBA type player was his inability to stay in basketball shape over the course of a season. His numbers suffered over stretches, his consistency lacked at times, and he leaned on his talent to carry him to the finish line. Now that he came into the season truly in basketball shape for the first time in his career? The entire narrative changes. His numbers have increased, he is reliable every night and the combination of his talent and new regiment has transformed him into the cornerstone he was always meant to be for the Sixers.
In my opinion, an MVP trophy seems to be a good trade off for footrubs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYcFZrLCSRY&ab_channel=NF
2. Overall Record
The Sixers as a whole have been better than anyone expected this year and that can be contributed to the play of Embiid and the team Daryl Morey has built around him. Before the franchise decided to trade all of their pieces for one year rentals and Tobias Harris (who should be an all-star this season) the Sixers won 52 games by surrounding Embiid and Simmons with shooters to help space the floor. Morey, with all his wisdom, decided the best way to fix a franchise that packed the paint like they were on an episode of “Hoarders” was to make Embiid the focal point of the offense let Simmons run the floor in transition and surround both of them with shooters on the wing to help open the paint. I am not sure how he thought of this, it is almost like the solution to the biggest problem the team faced last year was right in front of them.
Morey immediately moved Richardson and Horford to Dallas and OKC for Seth Curry and Danny Green. Drafting Tyrese Maxey and Isaiah Joe while already having Shake Milton, Furkan Korkmaz and Tobias Harris turned a team that couldn’t buy a basket from outside into a floor spacing nightmare for other teams. On paper the team was filled with shooters and two superstars ready to take advantage of real spacing. Up until this point, the Sixers starting five of Curry, Green, Harris, Simmons and Embiid have yet to lose a game as a starting lineup. As the team competes for the best record in the conference, it is also helping Embiid’s MVP chances. MVP’s have historically been on a top three team in the conference. If the Sixers are able to continue their dominance at the top of the standings Embiid should have no problem wrapping up the MVP before the end of the season.
3. Individual Accolades
So far, Embiid has been named the KIA player of the month for December & January and it was no surprise. He has dominated the first quarter of the season and the individual accolades will continue to pour in if he is able to keep up his current play.
What analysts are tracking the most when it comes to the Sixers star big man is his efficiency. In the first 23 games of the season, Embiid has put up numbers that project him to have one of the “all time greatest seasons” by any player, ever from an efficiency standpoint. Many people don’t seem to know exactly how good Embiid has been this year but Derek Bodner put it in perspective a few days ago:
Joel Embiid is averaging 28.3 points on a 66.9% true shooting percentage.
Shaq averaged 28+ points per game 5 times in his career. His TS% those years were 60.5%, 58.8%, 58.7%, 57.8% and 57.4%.
— Derek Bodner (@DerekBodnerNBA) January 30, 2021
While Bodner quickly clears up that he is in no way comparing the Sixers big man to Shaq, he is highlighting just how wildly efficient “The Process” has been in comparison to some of the best seasons “The Big Aristotle” had during his playing days. While it may not be a physical accolade and the fanfare around these stats have been minimal, it hasn’t gone unnoticed. When voters sit down at the end of the year to cast their ballot for the MVP, Embiid will check every box voters could require from a player in contention for the award. If he is able to continue to pile on in season awards and win more than one player of the month as the season progresses, the committee of voters will have no choice to vote for the 7’0″ center from Kansas (or they could of course snub him which would generally be on par for Philadelphia sports).
In a season with something to prove, Embiid has transformed his body and his team into a legitimate threat to grab some hardware later in the season. Dominating opponents night in and night out and powering the Sixers one of their best starts in a long time, Embiid isn’t just a conversation piece when it comes to the MVP award this year. He is the conversation.