Joel Embiid is right about MVP voting bias, but for the wrong reasons

Of course there’s bias in voting.

In some years, picking the NBA’s Most Valuable Player is easy. Those are the years the basic stats, advanced numbers and team success come together to confirm everything we saw with our own eyes.

For example, Stephen Curry’s unanimous pick in 2015-16 came after he led the league in both scoring and win shares per 48 minutes. He also set the record for 3-pointers in a season while leading the league in PER, and his Warriors had the best record in the NBA.

Other years are a lot harder. This year counts as one of those. Though Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo all have great basic and advanced numbers – and their teams are all performing similarly – you might have a different view of who should win MVP depending on which thing you value the most. Less than a month ago, betting odds suggested the award was Embiid’s to lose. Now, Jokic is the favorite by a large margin at -319 odds on Tipico Sportsbook. A recent ESPN straw poll also has Jokic as the MVP. 

Finishing second in the poll and now holding the second-shortest odds at +230, Embiid said he’ll believe there’s a bias against him if he finishes second in voting for a second straight year.

“If it happens, great. If it doesn’t, I don’t know what I have to do. I’ll feel like they hate me. I feel like the standard for guys in Philly or for me is different than everyone else,” Embiid said Sunday after dropping 44 points on the Cavaliers.

But does he have a point? Kind of, but not really.