Philadelphia Star Joel Embiid Wins His First Career NBA MVP
Philadelphia Sixers Star Joel Embiid won the 2022–2023 Kia NBA MVP award after his performance in the regular season.
Joel Embiid led the league in scoring for the second consecutive year while averaging 33.1 points per game on a split of 55, 33, and 86. The 29-year-old Cameroonian center received 73 first-place votes. The Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic, a two-time MVP, came in second with 19 votes, trailing the Sixers star. Third place went to the Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo, with Celtics star Jayson Tatum finishing fourth and Shai finishing fifth.
Embiid is only the second African athlete to win the award, following Hakeem Olajuwon in the 1993–94 season, and it makes five straight seasons in which international players have won the award.
After winning the trophy, Joel Embiid said it was the result of hard work. “It’s been a long time coming,” Embiid said. “A lot of hard work. I’ve been through a lot. I’m not just talking about basketball. I’m talking about my life. My story. Where I come from, how I got here, and what it took for me to be here.” He concluded.
The sixth-place Brooklyn Nets were swept by the Sixers in the opening round of the playoffs. He did not play in Games 1 of their second-round series against the Celtics, which the Sixers won 119-115, or Games 4 and 5 of their first-round series. He is expected to be questionable for Game 2.
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