Sixers news: Doc Rivers rants about analytics after Nikola Jokic beats Joel Embiid for MVP again

Sixers head coach Doc Rivers took a shot at analytics in defense of Joel Embiid after he lost out to Nikola Jokic for MVP again.

Monday brought the news that Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic is the NBA MVP for a second consecutive season, beating out Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid and Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo. While Jokic is fully deserving of winning the award again, the revelation brought about plenty of backlash from Sixers fans and others who believe Embiid should have won and that the only reason Jokic won again is because of analytics.

Sixers head coach Doc Rivers chimed in on the matter Tuesday, and while he praised Jokic, he too got in his own shot at analytics in defense of his star center:

Doc Rivers on the MVP race: "I do think this whole analytic-driven society, world is out of control at times with some of the measures that they use. Like, watch the dang game and decide is what I've always said."

Full quote below. pic.twitter.com/3gWVQBvmAA

— Rich Hofmann (@rich_hofmann) May 10, 2022

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While it's true that Jokic dominated many advanced metrics this season, Embiid is obviously also loved by analytics. Furthermore, both guys passed the eye and box score stats tests with flying colors. The idea that Jokic only won because of analytics is ludicrous, because he averaged 27.1 points, 13.8 points, 7.9 assists and 1.5 steals while shooting over 58% from the field. Those are ridiculous numbers, and he did this while leading the Nuggets to nearly 50 wins without his two best teammates.

Of course, Embiid's numbers were ridiculous as well, as he won the scoring title with 30.6 points per game while averaging 11.7 rebounds and 4.2 assists. The Sixers star dominated with no Ben Simmons for a good chunk of the season, so he deserves a lot of credit for that.

At the end of the day, Jokic, Embiid and Giannis all dominate when it comes analytics, eye test, box score stats or whatever else. They were all deserving of MVP, and Rivers did acknowledge that there would have been complaints no matter who won. Only one guy can actually win the award.

People do just love ripping analytics for things they don't like in basketball, though, so it's no surprise this argument keeps getting brought up.