Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid attempted to play through a knee injury on Tuesday against the Golden State Warriors. Unfortunately, he did not leave the game unscathed as he left the game early after Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga landed awkwardly on his leg, which forced Embiid's knee to hyperextend while on the ground. In the aftermath of the injury, there has been much talk about Joel Embiid forcing the issue to remain eligible for the 2023-24 NBA MVP award.
This season, the league has implemented a policy that to qualify for regular season awards such as the MVP, players must appear in at least 65 games. The 76ers star has appeared in 34 of a possible 46 games so far this season. If he misses six more games, he can kiss his hopes of winning a second straight MVP goodbye.
The injury has also sparked talks about how the NBA's new policy forced Embiid's hand to play, despite not being fully 100 percent. Former NBA player Chandler Parsons also spoke about the reigning NBA MVP's decision to play and offered some hard-hitting facts and sound advice for him and the 76ers organization.
“[Joel Embiid] is going to be judged off the postseason,” Parsons said on an episode of Run It Back courtesy of FanDuel. “He's going to be judged off winning a championship, & that's when they need him… Let this go and get healthy because your team is nothing without you.”




"[Joel Embiid] is going to be judged off the post season, he's going to be judged off winning a championship, & that's when they need him… Let this go & get healthy because your team is nothing without you."
— Chandler Parsons 🗣️
(via @RunItBackFDTV)pic.twitter.com/a0GJAY7hZd
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) January 31, 2024
By forcing to play, Embiid has aggravated his knee and has more so placed his MVP chances in peril, if he misses more games due to injury.
By all accounts, Joel Embiid deserves to remain in consideration for MVP regardless if he meets the 65-game criteria or not. The 76ers superstar is putting up insane numbers this season with 35.3 points, 11.3 rebounds, and 5.7 assists while leading Philadelphia to a top-5 seed in the Eastern Conference standings.