What Is Joel Embiid’s Case For Winning The MVP?

As the NBA regular season comes down the final stretch, the debate for Nikola Jokic or Joel Embiid to win the MVP continues to be neck and neck, and Giannis certainly has an argument as well.

So, who would win it if the season ended today? Let’s start by looking at Joel Embiid’s case.

With Jokic being the favorite to win the award earlier in the year, Embiid is no stranger to being snubbed for the trophy, as he finished runner-up last year, the year prior, and top-10 in 2019.

That made Embiid the 16th player in league history to finish runner-up multiple times in NBA history, and just the third to never win MVP.

And if you compare Embiid’s stats from those 2 seasons to the same league average of Jerry West and George Gervin, Embiid would average 31.8 points per game against Gervin’s 30.6 and West’s 24.6.

But even outside of the fact that his offensive numbers are at a career-best, his overall impact on the floor goes past that.

Embiid has the third-best Win Shares in the NBA with 11.7 (behind Jokic with 15). but Embiid has been on the floor less than Jokic (67 games played to 62).

The other difference between the two is on the defensive end, as the eye test usually prefers Embiid and his 1.7 blocks and 1.1 steals a night, but the analytics prefer Jokic in terms of defensive rating, as Jokic has a 110 to Embiid’s 108.3.

But, the deciding factor may come down to the team’s record, whether fair or not. And with that logic, Philadelphia could get the benefit of the doubt if they end the year in the tougher conference with a better overall record, as they enter today 1 game behind Denver.