The NBA world was robbed of a premier matchup on Monday when Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid was ruled out against the Denver Nuggets and star big man Nikola Jokic. The two of them are the leading MVP candidates and it was the final chance for both to face off and stake their claim for the award.
Embiid has been dealing with calf tightness and the Sixers do have their eyes set on the playoffs. Making sure their star big man is healthy going into the postseason is more important than him showing out against Jokic as he did in January.
However, Embiid received criticism for sitting out. ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins called him out for sitting out and the Nuggets fans added fuel to the fire as they had “missing” posters outside of Ball Arena on Monday.
Nuggets fan with a missing person Joel Embiid sign. 😬
(h/t @ohnohedidnt24) pic.twitter.com/ozwXGVrfwW
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) March 28, 2023
On the one hand, it’s understandable for the Sixers to sit Embiid as they have bigger goals in mind. However, the fact that he didn’t play in this one could hurt his MVP chances. It also isn’t a great look after he threw shade at analytics, which favors Jokic, and he told Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green that he took it personally that Green originally said Jokic was the toughest big man to defend.
It would have made more sense for the big fella to sit out the contest with the Phoenix Suns on Saturday, but he sat out against the Nuggets. Embiid should still win the MVP award, but his sitting out Monday likely hurts his chances.
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