Joel Embiid will not be named this year's NBA Most Valuable Player, as ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski has reported that Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic will win the award for the second straight season. The announcement is expected this week.
Last season, Jokic won the award finishing with 971 points. Embiid was the runner up with 586 points.
This year, both players were dominant and deserving of the award once again. Jokic carried the Nuggets with Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. injured. Murray missed the entire season and MPJ played just nine games. The Nuggets, however, were swept in the first-round of the playoffs by the Golden State Warriors, but the MVP award is for the regular season only.
Embiid carried the Sixers through the Ben Simmons' saga. After missing the first two games of the semifinals series against the Heat (both losses) with a torn ligament in his thumb, fractured orbital bone and concussion, Embiid has heroically returned helping the Sixers win two straight games and tie the series.
Jokic averaged 27.1 points, 13.8 rebounds, 7.9 assists, 1.5 steals, and 0.9 blocks per game while shooting 58.3 FG% / 33.7 3P% / 81.0 FT%.
Embiid averaged an NBA high 30.6 points, 11.7 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.1 steals, and 1.5 blocks per game while shooting 49.9 FG% / 37.1 3P% / 81.4 FT%.
While Jokic lead the NBA in most advanced stat categories like VORP (Value Over Replacement Player), BPM (Box Plus-Minus), PER (Player Efficiency Rating) and WS (Win Shares), most Embiid loyalists will argue he is the much better defensive player, something that is hard to quantify with metrics.