Joel Embiid has been the MVP frontrunner for most of the season it seems, although a recent stretch of poor form has seemingly weakened his case for the award. Even if he doesn’t get it though, there can be no denying Embiid’s incredible play this season. He has dominated the league offensively, and there is almost no team that seems to be able to stop Embiid from getting whatever he wants in the paint.
He has been quite excellent on the other end of the floor as well, anchoring the defense and protecting the rim at a high level. However, his name is never mentioned in the running for the Defensive Player of The Year Award, something that seemingly bothers the Sixers big man. Bam Adebayo seems to be currently getting the most consideration and Embiid spoke about why this might be the case on JJ Redick’s Old Man and The Three podcast (via Essentially Sports).
“Why don’t I get the respect for Defensive Player of The Year? I think its also because my offensive game, I’ve got into another step where like everybody forgets about the defensive side. I think my first year or second year, I finished top three in Defensive Player of The Year.
“But I think it’s because I was loud about defense. I was going after every block, I was so engaged I tried to block every single thing. Nowadays it’s like, I a just smart about it.”
When Embiid is on the floor, the Sixers have a Top 10 defense in the league, meaning that he has a huge impact on that end of the floor. In a year with no clear-cut winner for the DPOY, he is right in saying that he should be given more consideration for the award. Especially considering that Giannis Antetokounmpo is considered to be among the favorites but his elite offensive production isn’t something that distracts from his suffocating defense.
