What is Going on with Joel Embiid?
James Willis | November 19, 2024
The 2022-23 NBA season MVP has been MIA this season. After starting the season on the injury report with a knee injury, Embiid was suspended for four games for shoving a reporter. He finally made his season debut on November 12th after an 8 game absence to start the season and fans are not happy.
Embiid has had a tough time getting going 13, 20 and 10 points in the three games he’s played. He didn’t play in the November 13th contest because apparently 76ers management has decided that he won’t play on back-to-back games this season. The intent behind this decision is to get him to the post-season healthy for a change. However, it won’t matter if the 76ers fail to make the playoffs at all. They currently only have 2 wins and sit at 2-11 on the season. I can imagine a scenario where they abandon this strategy if it looks like they will struggle to qualify for the post-season.
Philadelphia fans and local press have been freaking out about Embiid and his lack of participation and production. They are already calling for him to be traded. You can understand the frustration when you consider that it’s been almost a month since the season began and the team’s best player has a grand total of 43 points combined and 2 total wins. Yikes. But the NBA season is a very long one. It will be played from now until summer of 2025 and most anything can happen in the meantime.
Can Embiid still qualify for league MVP?
Players have missed games and won the award in previous seasons. Allen Iverson missed 11 games in 2001 and won the award. Giannis Antetokounmpo missed 10 games in the 2019-2020 season and won. Way back in 77-78, Bill Walton played in only 58 of the season’s 82 games and won the award. However, these instances are very rare. MVP winners usually play almost every game in most cases, sometimes just missing a few games total.
Joel Embiid MVP Odds
There are still odds on the board for Embiid to win the coveted award at some sportsbooks. BetUS.com has him listed at +25,000. That’s a $100 wager to win $25K. Although I think it’s highly improbable that he win the award having missed a total of 10 games already and with him scheduled to miss 10 more (back-to-back games), it’s hard not to throw a C Note on that wager.
Can a player win MVP having missed 20 regular season games? There is a rule that a player must play at least 20 minutes in at least 65 games to qualify for awards. But, if the 76ers are struggling to put up wins they may abandon the plan to not play Embiid in those back-to-back games. If he starts balling out, averaging 30+ points/10 rebounds per game and the Sixers make the playoffs, he may very well have at least an outside crack at the award.
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