Joel Embiidwhich was second after Jokic the last two years, thus crowns an amazing personal journey from his late start in basketball at the age of 15 to become the second African to receive the award for Most valuable Player, after the nigerian Hakeem Olajuwon in 1994.
The 29-year-old center has been the top scorer of the season with 33.1 points on average and is currently fighting in the Playoffs for reaching his long-awaited first ring of the nba.
embid he was elected in first place by 73 members of the voting panel, made up of a hundred international journalists. Jokic received 15 votes and the Greek Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks), who also owns two awards MVP (2019 and 2020), another 12.
“I don’t really know where to start, it’s been a long time coming”he said with a smile embid to the chain T.N.T.. “A lot of hard work, I’ve been through a lot. And I’m not just talking about basketball, I’m talking about life, my story, how I got here and what it has cost me to be here.”he added.
“I feel good. I don’t know what to say. It’s amazing”affirmed the pivot, who followed the announcement along with the rest of his teammates from the Sixers in Bostonwhere they compete against Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
the choice of embid extends the dominance of international players in the main individual award of the nba. The last American player to receive it was in 2018 James Hardencurrent partner of embid in the Sixers.
embid He has been one of the most dominant centers in the nba since his debut in 2016, expanding his range of action each season until he is also a threat from the outside line.
The Cameroonian, who has extraordinary agility of movement and ball control for his 2.16-meter height, has been the top scorer in the nba in the last two seasons and chosen six times for the Game of the Stars).
Ultra-motivated to win this award, the Cameroonian has withstood different physical problems until sign his best season individually, with averages of 33.1 points, 10.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.7 blocks.
The center accumulated 13 games with at least 40 points, three of them exceeding 50, to boost the Sixers to third place in the East.
In the Playoffs suffered a sprained right knee that knocked him out of the last first-round duel against the Nets and the opening game of the series against the Celticsin which Philadelphia was imposed thanks to an exhibition of Harden.
Highlights of Embiid’s MVP season:
The Joel Embiid Movie Story
For embidthe most prestigious individual award of the nba culminates an absolutely unusual personal trajectory. Born in 1994 in yaoundéthe capital of Cameroonthe center practiced sports such as soccer and volleyball as a child and he didn’t start playing basketball until he was 15 years old.
embid was discovered on the campus organized by his compatriot and former player of the NBA, Luc Mbah a Moute in Cameroon.
With few fundamentals but an overwhelming physique, embid received an immediate invitation to campus Basketball Without Borders in South Africa and two months later he was already moving to USA to play in an institute of the state of Florida.
“I didn’t know any English, I didn’t know anyone in America, I didn’t understand the culture except basic hip-hop”recounted the player himself in a text published in 2018 in the media The Players’ Tribune. “I knew how to dunk, but I had no (ball) handling. So I went to practice the first day and I did so badly that the coach kicked me out of the gym.”
The pivot contained his desire to return home and began to improve his skills at an accelerated rate. A year later he was recruited by the University of Kansas and in 2014 was chosen by the Sixers in third place of Draft.
A foot injury sidelined him for the first two seasons at Philadelphia. Finally it debuted with the Sixers in october 2016 dazzling with 20 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks.
The Sixers they quickly made him the leader of their long and painful process of reconstruction. Own embid He got so involved that he nicknamed himself “The process”.
Philadelphia he failed to surround Embiid with the right pieces and fell in the first or second round of Playoffs in the last four seasons.
embid now has a new opportunity to reach its first finals conference but needs to recover from his sprain, which he told T.N.T.could also separate him from the second duel on Wednesday.
Source: Ambito
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
