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Joel Embiid is putting together another MVP-caliber season for the Philadelphia 76ers, but if he keeps on missing games at the rate he currently is, he won't have a shot to win the award. That's because of new rules the league put in place this past offseason for their individual awards in an attempt to limit load management, and Embiid's recent injury issues led to an interesting question from Draymond Green.
In order to be eligible to win MVP, or any other award, players must play in at least 65 games in order to just be eligible. Embiid has already missed 12 games this season, meaning that if he misses six more throughout the remainder of the season, he won't have a shot to win the award. Green called out the NBA after Embiid fought through injuries to play against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night, asking whether they really want players to risk further injury just to keep themselves in the conversation for these awards.
“You get Joel, who comes out there tonight because he’s, what, three games away from not qualifying to win MVP? And he forces it. Freak play with him and JK diving for the ball, but maybe it’s not as bad if the knee isn’t already banged up right. And so now, Joel, I get it, yeah you want to win MVP, you worked that hard, put the work that he’s put in to get better on a nightly basis, of course you want to win MVP…But is that the goal? Is the goal putting people in harm's way just so they can qualify for an award? Because I don’t think that’s the goal.” – Draymond Green, The Draymond Green Show
Draymond Green raises a fair point when it comes to the NBA's new rules
Fans were curious to see how these rules would impact players, and while it's generally limited load management, it's also resulted in a unique situation for Embiid. There's no doubt Embiid, who is putting up some monster numbers (35.3 PPG, 11.3 RPG, 5.7 APG, 53.3 FG%) is the frontrunner for the award, but he might not be able to win the award because of the amount of games he's missed.
Embiid has said he isn't going to push himself to play through injuries in order to try to win the MVP award, but after he labored through the Sixers latest game against the Warriors, it's fair to wonder whether that's actually going to be the case. The NBA has to abide by these rules this season, but if Embiid does end up getting disqualified from the MVP race, Green's questions will only grow louder this upcoming offseason.
