“Joel Embiid has the mentality of winning, and scored the ball at a high level”: James Harden explains why he picks his Sixers teammate to win the 2022 MVP honors

Unsurprisingly, James Harden picked his Philly teammate Joel Embiid to lift the 2022 Maurice Podoloff Trophy.

Joel Embiid has simply been unguardable this 2021-2022 campaign. After a relatively silent first few weeks of this season, the Philadelphia 76ers’ big man has been a force to reckon with since November-end. The Cameroonian has been dropping 40-bombs on a nightly basis, making it look absolutely normal, and has even been averaging more points than minutes over the past few games.

Playing some dominant basketball, Embiid has been unstoppable. Amid a sensational campaign, JoJo has been averaging an impressive 29.8/11.3/4.3 for the season.

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Throughout the course of his historic season, several analysts and former legends have selected the 7-footer as their pick for the 2022 MVP honors. Fellow Philly teammate James Harden is one of the many to think so.

“Joel Embiid prepared himself for this year to be one of his best years”: James Harden

According to The Beard, Embiid deserves to win the 2022 MVP honors. Speaking to ESPN, Harden explained why he believed Joel was the clear favorite to lift the 2022 Maurice Podoloff Trophy:

“He deserves it, man. I’ve only been here for a few weeks, but I already see his mindset. He wants to win. Some guys just want numbers, but he has both. He has the mentality of winning, and he scores the ball at a high level. I think he’s prepared himself, especially coming off last year, for this year to be one of his best years.”

“Most of the games he’s played this year, we’ve been fighting for the No. 1 seed,” Harden said of Embiid. “And he’s not only top 2, top 3 in scoring but he’s impactful to our team winning.”

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Embiid is currently in a tough race against Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo to win the MVP honors. However, considering their recent form and their respective team’s standings, Joel was boosted up a spot on the latest MVP ladder.