Nikola Jokic led the Denver Nuggets to a 111-105 win over the Joel Embiid-less Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night. While the two superstars weren’t able to battle it out on the court, they shared a moment on it after the game. In his postgame interview, Jokic was asked about his conversation with Embiid.
“Just asking how he is,” Jokic said. “If you’re a basketball fan, or soccer fan, or NFL fan, the things that he is doing right now is historic and you need to appreciate that… You’re a Denver fan or whatever fan you are, I think you need to appreciate what he’s doing.”
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While their respective fanbases have been at each other’s throats for the last few years, Embiid and Jokic have always shown each other a great deal of respect. As the Serbian, who had 26 points, 16 rebounds, 7 assists, and 2 steals in this game, said here, you have to appreciate what you have seen from the 76ers big man this season.
Embiid has put up remarkable averages of 36.0 points, 11.4 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 1.1 steals, and 1.8 blocks per game in this 2023-24 season. His numbers are up across the board from 2022-23, and that’s ridiculous considering he won the MVP. It has been a very special campaign indeed.
Joel Embiid Was Booed By Nuggets Fans
While the reigning MVP got a lot of love from Jokic here, he certainly wasn’t getting any from the fans in the arena. Embiid was showered with boos by Nuggets fans when he appeared courtside during the game.
The 29-year-old was not on the injury report but ended up missing his fourth straight road game against the Nuggets here. It was reported that the medical staff was concerned with what they had seen from Embiid during warmups and decided to have him sit out.
Considering he has missed all these games in Denver and has a reputation now for sitting out of tough road games, it wasn’t a surprise that the fans booed him. Embiid doesn’t seem to care too much about it and simply embraced the boos.
Joel Embiid Said Nikola Jokic Is The Best Player In The NBA
These two had battled it out on the court earlier this month in Philadelphia, with the 76ers coming out on top. After that game, Embiid said he told Jokic he was the best player in the NBA.
“I just told him he’s the best player in the league… He won a championship, that’s the best team in the league, and he’s the Finals MVP. I just told him to keep going and see you in 2 weeks. Keep doing your thing, that’s why you’re the best in the league.”
Embiid is having a better season, but there is no denying that the title of the best player in the league still belongs to Jokic. He led the Nuggets to the 2023 NBA title after going on a historic playoff run, and it’s something Embiid has yet to do in his career.
He’d be hoping 2024 is finally the year when he silences his critics and puts to bed the notion that he underperforms in the postseason, which is what Jokic did last year. As for Jokic and his Nuggets, they improved to 32-15 with the win here, and remain one of the favorites to make it to the NBA Finals at the end of this season.
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