Philadelphia 76ers All-Star center Joel Embiid returned to action this weekend after losing the last 10 games due to a bone bruise on his left knee. The return of Embiid is obviously great news for a team of Sixers in the midst of a fierce battle for positioning the playoffs at the top of the Eastern Conference and which needs a healthy Embiid to do any kind of real race in the postseason. Unfortunately for Embiid, however, his prolonged absence probably cost him the chance to win the MVP award this season.
Before the injury put him out of action in mid-March, Embiid was on pole position in the MVP race. He ranked first in the NBA.com MVP rankings and was the consensual favorite among many national experts. His advantage was small, however, and losing games could be a determining factor in a race that is extremely difficult otherwise.
Embiid has played 32 of Philadelphia’s 49 games so far this season, having also lost a few games before the bone injury. The Sixers have 23 regular season games remaining on their schedule. Therefore, if Embiid plays in all games for the remainder of the current campaign, he will play 55 games in total. That would be the smallest number of games ever played by an MVP winner, in addition to Karl Malone, who played 49 out of 50 games in total for Utah Jazz during the 1998-99 season shortened by the blockade.
Outside of Malone, Bill Walton holds the record for the fewest games played by an MVP, having made only 58 appearances for the Trail Blazers in the 1977-78 season and still winning the award. In addition to these two, no MVP winner appeared in less than 60 games during the season in which he won the award. It should also be taken into account that Embiid is likely to miss a few more games this season, to rest and prepare for the postseason at least.
To win, despite playing less games than any previous MVP, Embiid would have to be the favorite for the prize, and that is simply not the case. Even before getting hurt, Nikola Jokic and LeBron James (who is now in the same position as Embiid, since he is out on the pitch due to an ankle injury) were breathing down his neck in the payout race, and ever since he fell other players like Damian Lillard, James Harden and the twice MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo have emerged as legitimate candidates. While Embiid lost 17 games, Jokic appeared in every game for the Denver Nuggets and Antetokounmpo lost only a handful of games to Milwaukee. It would be naive to think that the voters of the prize will not take this into account.
At the end of the day, the most important thing for Embiid and the Sixers is that the injury was not ending the season and that the big man will be available to try to take the Sixers to their first appearance in the finals in two decades. But that does not mean that having your chance to win the most prestigious individual league award taken out of something beyond your control is not disappointing for Embiid, who has publicly stated that he would like to win the MVP award several times. In addition, this will be the second time that injury problems will cost Embiid the chance to claim one of the league’s top individual awards. He was clearly the best newcomer during the 2016-17 season, but was limited to just 31 action games and the Rookie of the Year award went to Malcolm Brogdon.
The good news for Embiid, 27, is that this will not be his last opportunity to fight for the coveted MVP award, as he and the Sixers look set to be candidates for the Eastern Conference in the foreseeable future. But this may not be his year, although his numbers – 29.9 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.2 steals per game – are certainly worthy of MVP. During the broadcast of the competition between the Nuggets and the Clippers earlier this week, Reggie Miller was discussing Jokic’s candidacy for MVP and he had the following:
“[Jokic] played in every game this season. All the other MVP pioneers, Joel Embiid, LeBron James, James Harden, all of these guys lost significant time. Not so much James Harden, he lost the last two, but you have to give credit to someone who played in every game and put those numbers in too. “
Unfortunately for Embiid, many others, including award-winning voters, probably share this view.