Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images
Joel Embiid’s MVP chase missed the big picture. There’s plenty of blame to go around for his latest injury
Joel Embiid should be far past the point of feeling like he has anything to prove during the regular season. Embiid is one of the very best players in NBA, a title he’s earned by finishing top-two in MVP voting each of the last three seasons. Embiid finally won MVP last year, but the award didn’t bring him the validation he desired: his main peer, Nikola Jokic, won his first championship, while Embiid’s Philadelphia 76ers were again eliminated in the second round of the playoffs.
There was an easy lesson to learn from Jokic’s title run: he essentially bowed out of the MVP race last season by taking it easy in the second half of the year to make sure he was fresh for the playoffs. The Sixers could have tried to follow the same path this year with Embiid, yet the chase for another MVP award feels like it played a prominent role in the superstar big man going down with a scary injury on Tuesday night.
There’s one notable difference in the NBA MVP race this season: the league’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement put in a 65-game minimum for all end-of-season awards. Coming into Tuesday night’s game against the Golden State Warriors, Embiid could only miss five more games all season and still win the award. Embiid was considered a sizable front-runner to win his second MVP this season as long as he played enough games.
Embiid was listed as questionable going into the Warriors game with knee soreness. He had originally tweaked his knee on Jan. 25 against the Pacers, yet stayed in the game. Embiid then missed his nationally televised matchup with Jokic in Denver — where Embiid hasn’t played since 2019 — as the national media moaned about the Philly star “ducking” the matchup. The Sixers lost to the Nuggets, then lost again to the lowly Portland Trail Blazers two nights later as Embiid sat out again.
The Sixers already knew they were going to be without Tyrese Maxey, De’Anthony Melton, Nicolas Batum, and Robert Covington against the Warriors. With the New York Knicks on their heels for the No. 3 seed in the East, Embiid gave it a go after warming up against Golden State. It was clear from the start that he was playing hurt.
The Warriors beat the Sixers, 119-107, for Philly’s fourth straight loss. The bigger news is that Embiid went down with a knee injury in the fourth quarter. All of Philadelphia is anxiously waiting on the next update about his health.
Late in the fourth quarter, Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga fell on Embiid’s leg. The superstar big man wouldn’t return. Watch the play here:
Embiid was clearly hobbled well before he was knocked out of the game. He wasn’t able to generate any lift off the ball, settling for mid-range jumpers most of the night on one of his least efficient scoring performances of the year. At one point, Embiid fell to the ground just trying to contest a shot.
As the Warriors held a double-digit lead for most of the second half, it would have been easy to rest Embiid and waive the white flag. Instead, head coach Nick Nurse kept Embiid in the game, and the injury eventually occurred.
All of this was totally unnecessary: it should have been obvious Embiid needed to rest after going through warmups. Instead, the desire to play enough games to meet the criteria for MVP, as well as media pressure applied in the wake of his decision to sit out against Denver, led to Embiid playing hurt in a mostly meaningless regular season game. Now, the Sixers have nothing to do but hang on the MRI.
Nick Nurse says that the injury that forced Embiid to leave the game in the fourth quarter was unrelated to the injury that has held him out recently. Embiid will get an MRI.
— Kendra Andrews (@kendra__andrews) January 31, 2024
Embiid most likely pushed to play vs. the Warriors. It’s the 76ers’ job to tell him no. By failing to take the long-view, Embiid may have permanently ended his MVP chances this year, and more importantly, made it more difficult for him to truly be healthy for the playoffs.
Embiid should have taken more precaution himself, too. Embiid had a streak of 30-point, 10-rebound performances that hit 22 games during the loss to Indiana. Some believe Embiid re-entered that game to keep the streak alive when was clearly hurt early in the night.
The NBA should feel some heat, too. The league put in the 65-game minimum for MVP because it wants its stars playing to sold out crowds every night, especially when those games are on national TV. The downside of pushing hard in the regular season comes with risking the ability to be fresh for the playoffs. Would Embiid have played vs. the Warriors without the 65-game MVP minimum this year? We’ll never know, but it does feel like it played a role in his decision to give it a go especially after the discourse coming out of the Denver game.
All of this is incredibly stupid. Embiid is one of the best players of his generation — right up there with Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Jokic and Giannis each have an NBA championship to their name. Embiid does not. That should be the priority above anything else.
After the loss to Golden State, the Sixers are now suddenly the No. 5 seed in the East if the season ended today. That makes their path to a championship so much tougher, because it means a potential second round meeting with the Boston Celtics. Who knows how far Philly will drop if Embiid misses a big stretch of games because of this injury.
The Sixers should have learned that another MVP won’t bring Embiid peace — only a ring will. This was handled poorly from every possible side.
