Philadelphia 76ers superstar Joel Embiid says that he’s going to put in as much work as he possibly can to become the GOAT.
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Joel Embiid, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic are locked in a 3-headed MVP race this season. All 3 of them have legitimate claims to the crown of the most coveted individual trophy in NBA basketball.
While Nikola Jokic won the Maurice Podoloff trophy last year, Giannis is a back-to-back winner in 2019 and 2020. This means that a ton of voters will look to vote for the 3rd candidate.
Embiid has always been a great two-way player. However, the major reason why he couldn’t make it to the MVP race seriously before this year was his health. Jojo has always had rather suspect conditioning, but that has changed over the past 12 months or so.
Analytics will likely play a role for voters going w Jokic over Embiid but this is ridiculous- look at the minutes Joel averages and his production. And anyone who has watched a Sixers game this season has seen how much he carries the off/def. He sits…big leads vanish in minutes https://t.co/qYFqERQUF9
— Kevin Negandhi (@KevinNegandhi) April 7, 2022
Joel Embiid says he wants to chase the shadow of Michael Jordan in a recent presser
Speaking to Sixers beat writers and Philly-based reporters ahead of their game against the Raptors in Toronto, Joel Embiid emphasized just how badly he wants to be placed on the highest possible pedestal.
“I’m extremely competitive. I want to be the best. And nowadays it’s unfortunate that, you know, to be… I want to be ranked top five, top 10 – the best player ever.”
.@JoelEmbiid on the pursuit of his first MVP:
“I’m extremely competitive. I want to be the best. I want to be ranked top five, top 10 – the best player ever.” pic.twitter.com/sFjVV3CqKG
— x – Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) April 7, 2022
“But nowadays, it’s unfortunate that to be up there, you’ve gotta show awards. I mean, how many MVPs you have, Defensive Player of the Year, how many championships you have.”
“So like that’s why to me, it’s also important because that’s my nature. I’m competitive, I want to be there, and I know that if that’s the criteria to be up there, then I want to have something to show for.”
