The 2022 MVP race has a different leader every week. Initially, Stephen Curry looked like the clear favorite to win the award, then Kevin Durant took over for a couple of weeks before Giannis Antetokounmpo sat atop of the list until Nikola Jokic stole that position thanks to his recent performances.
However, just like the prior rankings showed us, nobody is safe no matter how great they are playing. Jokic is having a great season with the Denver Nuggets, but the reigning MVP could lose that spot at the hands of Joel Embiid, who is balling right now.
The Philadelphia 76ers center is demonstrating he’s one of the best players in the league right now, showing his quality night in and night out. Joel is posting incredible numbers while leading the Sixers to the 6th position in the Eastern Conference standings, just two games away from the leaders Miami Heat.
Embiid is getting more attention as the MVP frontrunner, and even Shaquille O’Neal made a case for the Cameroonian big man. Talking on NBA on TNT, the Big Diesel, a former MVP himself, explained what he thinks an MVP should have and why Embiid fits that description.
“Over the last 15 years it’s been unclear to me what the definition of the ‘Most Valuable Player’ is. There’s some coocoos like Charles [Barkley] and Kenny [Smith] that say, ‘oh, this team has a better record, so this guy is MVP.’ I always thought the MVP was a singular award, which means you are the baddest guy in the league, and the baddest guy in the league right now is Joel Embiid, but there are others six players, so hopefully the media doesn’t penalize Embiid and goes with another guy who’s close and whose team has a better record…”
Embiid is doing incredible things this season, leading his squad to compete in a stacked Eastern Conference even without Ben Simmons around. The Sixers are only a couple of games away from the No. 1 seed and seeing how inconsistent the top teams have been in recent weeks, there’s a big chance for Philly to climb positions.
He has a pretty good opportunity to become the MVP favorite very soon, but seeing how the media perceive things, if he doesn’t have a good record, Embiid won’t get as much attention as other candidates. Nevertheless, if we compare the Sixers’ record to the Denver Nuggets’ (where Jokic plays), Embiid seems to have the advantage.
