Joel Embiid may finally be the MVP, becoming the first Philadelphia 76ers superstar to win the award since Allen Iverson. But the Sixers' big man continues to claim that whichever way the vote falls, it won't matter to him.
Embiid currently leads Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo in an MVP race that is going to head down to the wire. However, the Sixers superstar is paying it no mind and focusing only on the playoffs and staying healthy, according to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
“It’s all about the playoffs,” Embiid said, via the Philadelphia Inquirer. “Being in the MVP race, I told you, I don’t care. If I win, good. If I don’t, it’s whatever. That’s not where my focus is…If my focus was on [the MVP], I could have run up the stats against Chicago and could have gone for a triple-double or kept the 30-point streak or whatever. But I don’t care because you know, truth be told, we were up 30 [points]. I wasn’t needed anyways. But to be the MVP, you also have to have great stats. I just don’t care.”
At this point in his career — nearly a decade long since he was first drafted — Embiid is starting to tune out the awards voted on by the media. From missing out on Rookie of the Year to being the MVP runner-up to the same player twice to not even being voted as an All-Star starter this season, the Sixers superstar has learned the hard way that he won't get the benefit of the doubt. To get more respect in the eyes of basketball fans, he has to stay healthy and perform at a super high level in the postseason.
Joel Embiid has always wanted to win a championship but he knows now that winning it all is the ultimate ticket to respect. His developments as a scorer have made the Sixers a legitimate championship contender. They may have earned him the MVP, too, but his eyes are on another prize.
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