The Philadelphia 76ers duo of Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons have been identified as strong candidates for this season's Defensive Player of the Year award. In a recent statement, Embiid himself conceded that at this point, his Sixers teammate should be the frontrunner for the coveted accolade.

According to Embiid, he firmly believes that Simmons has done more than enough to prove that he should be the DPOY frontrunner:

“That's something he wants so much, and he deserves it,” Embiid stated, via Derek Bodner of The Athletic. “He deserves to be Defensive Player of the Year.”

This is a somewhat surprising statement from Embiid considering how he expressed his desire to bag the DPOY trophy this season. Then again, Simmons has been playing at such an elite level on the defensive end this term that even Embiid has been convinced of how the Sixers star point guard deserves the award for himself.

After all, JoJo has other things to focus on. Right now, he is a legitimate contender for the MVP title along with the likes of Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Embiid has been playing some of the best basketball of his career this season, and it isn't surprising that this has translated to the best record in the East for the Sixers.

Above the individual accolades, however, I'm pretty sure both Embiid and Simmons would gladly set these aside in exchange for a title. Personal awards are an undeniably remarkable achievement, but in the end, a championship is always going to be the ultimate goal for every NBA player.