Joel Embiid looked poised to repeat as the NBA MVP after improving from what was already an MVP-winning season last year. Then, the Philadelphia 76ers center missed two months and became ineligible for awards under the NBA's new requirement of 65 games played.

Even without the NBA's new rules, an absence that long meant that voters were not going to vote for him as this season's MVP. Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo are in the running for their third each while other stars like Luka Doncic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jayson Tatum are each hoping to take the hardware home for the first time in their careers.

Embiid was leading the NBA in scoring, posting a career-high in assists and dominating even the best competition while posting some historic numbers. But because of his meniscus injury, the only accolades to show for his regular season are an All-Star nomination and some Player of the Week awards. How does he feel about being out of MVP talks after being in the middle of them for three years?

“I'm happy I'm not in the conversation,” Embiid told reporters after the 76ers' win over the Miami Heat. “That conversation has been toxic for a long time. But, I'll be honest, this year has been kind of boring. This year, there's not enough toxicity going around. It's pretty fun and it's also, at some point, it's pretty bad, too. But I'm glad I'm nowhere near that. I'm just focused on getting back healthy.

“Obviously, all great candidates. They all deserve to win. It's just unfortunate that only one person has to win,” the Sixers superstar concluded.

Joel Embiid happy to not be in MVP race this season

Throughout all of last season, any mention of Embiid or Nikola Jokic's MVP case would have been met with pushback in support of the other candidate. They had been in the top two of voting in the previous two seasons but Embiid upped his game and was given a season that wasn’t marred by a teammate's trade request — that would come in the offseason. It was enough to give him a leg up on Jokic in last year's voting.

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This season, Jokic looks likely to be the MVP. His Denver Nuggets are still one of the best teams in the league and his statistical profile is unmatched. Gilgeous-Alexander is a strong candidate, too, as he has done a great job leading the young Oklahoma City Thunder to great success. Antetokounmpo's Milwaukee Bucks have been too rocky for him to win, though he should still perform well in the voting.

Before a game last season, then-76ers head coach Doc Rivers pleaded for the discussion around the award to become more civilized and focused on propping the players up instead of tearing them down. The irony of most MVP debates is that the players generally like each other and show way less toxicity toward one another than their fans do. Embiid and Jokic are famously fond of one another.

This season, even fans of the Nuggets are admitting that Embiid not being in the MVP convo zaps a lot of its fervor away. But Joel Embiid doesn’t really care (though he will poke some fun at a prevailing narrative among fans). His focus now is on continuing to get healthy and helping the 76ers try to compete for the championship.