Despite a historic season for Joel Embiid, in the end, the Sixers superstar still fell short in the MVP race. The title went back to Denver as Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic bagged back-to-back MVP honors — and deservedly so.

Even Sixers head coach Doc Rivers could not agree any more with the decision to name Jokic as the 2021-22 Most Valuable Player. However, the 60-year-old shot-caller is also adamant that Embiid also played well enough throughout the year to deserve the same honor:

“I think we should celebrate Joel,” said Rivers, via Justin Grasso of FanNation. “Jokic is a worthy MVP, but so is Joel, and so is Giannis. Joel went through a lot this year, having to shoulder the load for most of the year, and he did that.”

I see no lies here from the Sixers coach. Even Giannis Antetokounmpo played tremendously this year. At the end of the day, however, the league can only name one MVP.

To be fair, Jokic also carried quite a load for the Nuggets this year with both Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. out injured. This pretty much negates the argument favoring Embiid in terms of shouldering much of the load for the Sixers, right?