• Richard Jefferson has teased Joel Embiid for not playing against Nikola Jokic in the regular season
• Embiid sat out a highly anticipated matchup between the centers in March
• Embiid hasn’t played in Denver since December 2019.
Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid are the two best big men of their generation. Ultimately, people just want to see the two battle head-to-head, something that doesn’t happen often. As a result, Richard Jefferson said Embiid has the Serbian Flu, which is why he has been sitting out matches against Jokic in Denver since 2019.
“They call it the Serbian Flu. It’s been diagnosed, there are a lot of variations. There used to be Shaq Flu, Kobe flu, MJ flu, and a lot of different things. Right now, it’s the Serbian flu. Joel, I don’t think you’re ducking Jokic. but from this point on, I’m going to keep saying you’re ducking Jokic until you guys do play.”
ESPN diagnose Embiid with the "Serbian Flu"#MileHighBasketball pic.twitter.com/gnE1Ae14W7
— n i k o l a e s t h e t i c (@nikolaesthetic) August 17, 2023
The one matchup between Embiid and Jokic last season saw Embiid totally dominate with 47 points and 18 rebounds. It was a Philly home game, which is why people were excited for their matchup two months later on Jokic’s home turf. The notoriously challenging Denver altitude meant that Embiid wouldn’t play.
Embiid and Jokic are 5-2 in head-to-head matches, with Embiid having the edge.
Has Joel Embiid Been Left Behind By Nikola Jokic?
The last three MVP races have been headlined by Embiid and Jokic, with Jokic winning in 2021 and 2022 before Embiid publicly campaigned to get the 2023 award in a very close race. Unfortunately for Embiid, the regular season MVP turned into a curse as experts said he cared too much about winning that award while Jokic was focused on winning a title.
Now that Jokic is a champion and Embiid is yet to advance out of the second round of the playoffs, the conversation for the best center in the league is more lopsided than ever, despite Embiid being the reigning MVP.
Jokic has averaged 21.9 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 7.4 assists in games against Embiid, while the 76ers’ big man has averaged 25.7 points, 11.9 rebounds, and 3.6 assists. Embiid needs to have a dominant season with a deep playoff run if he even hopes to compete with Jokic for the spot as the best center of this generation.
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