Joel Embiid hasn’t managed to claim his first MVP this season, despite leading the league in scoring and almost single-handedly carrying the Philadelphia 76ers to the 4th seed in the Eastern Conference. Nikola Jokic has claimed the award, based on his excellent performances, largely down to the amazing stats and advanced stats he put up in ensuring the Denver Nuggets made the playoffs as well.
However, the Nuggets lost to the Warriors in the first round while the Philadelphia 76ers find themselves in the running for the title still. And Kendrick Perkins, who believes Embiid should have been the MVP, has spoken about how he wants the Sixers man to come out and take his frustration out on the Heat en route to winning the title.
(starts at 35:51)
“I’m rooting for Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers to win it all, and I don’t give a damn with people saying I’m being biased. … I’m rooting for him now.
“You know why? Because I hope he comes out angry, and – you know what? – I feel sorry for the Miami Heat right now, because this reminds me of the same situation when it was David Robinson and Hakeem Olajuwon. And we know what Hakeem Olajuwon went out there and done when he felt like he got robbed.”
Perkins is comparing the situation to 1995 when David Robinson won the regular-season MVP award over Hakeem Olajuwon, who responded by leading his Houston Rockets team to the NBA title and won the Finals MVP, firmly putting his name down in history.
Embiid has a tough task ahead of him to achieve the same thing. The Sixers will first have to beat the Miami Heat over their remaining 3 games before going through either the Milwaukee Bucks or the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals just to reach the NBA Finals. If he can do it though, this will go down as one of the most legendary seasons by a player in the history of the NBA.
