Reactions To Joel Embiid's MVP Over Denver's Nikola Jokic Call It A 'Sympathy Award' From NBA
The NBA announced its MVP award on Tuesday. To the chagrin of Nikola Jokic fans, Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid won the coveted 2022-2023 title. Seen as a two-man race between the Joker and Embiid, NBA circles were split on the regular season's best player.
(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
Was Embiid's MVP A 'Sympathy Award'?
Embiid was rightly deserving of the award: averaging 33.1 points (leaguewide-best), 10.2 rebounds and 4.6 assists on 34.6 minutes a night.
But Nikola Jokic, a two-time MVP winner, had his own case for the title. Jokic nearly averaged a triple-double per game — 24.5 PTS, 11.8 REB, 9.8 AST — as he led the Nuggets to a Western Conference-best 53-29 record.
(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
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Add on top of their matching skillsets all of the dumb commentary we heard from ESPN's Kendrick Perkins, who once tried to frame the MVP race between Jokic and Embiid as a battle of race, and it was a real contentious saga to the award.
How the heck did Domantas Sabonis get MVP votes? Credit: NBA.com
Discourse over Embiid's win over Jokic ensued after the announcement Tuesday.
The MVP reactions on Twitter were fiery.
(Who do you think should've won the MVP? Jokic or Embiid?)
From calling it a sympathy award for Embiid to outing the vote as a deliberate attempt to stop Jokic from winning three-straight MVPs, the masses seemed skeptical of Embiid's win.