PHILADELPHIA–Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid has been in the running for the MVP award all season long. He is in the running to lead the league in scoring which would make him the first big man to lead the league in scoring since Shaquille O’Neal in 2000 and he has been a big leader for this team.
Before the team acquired James Harden, Embiid was repeatedly throwing the Sixers on his back every night as they dealt with the adversity of the Ben Simmons saga. That situation was held over the team like a black cloud no matter what they did and Embiid had them towards the top of the East despite the issue.
On Saturday afternoon, with the team on a 3-game losing skid, Embiid erupted again for 29 points on 12-for-16 shooting with 14 rebounds and six assists to lead the Sixers to a 144-114 win over the Charlotte Hornets.
“He was great,” said coach Doc Rivers. “If we could’ve just caught a ball tonight, I counted three balls right between guys’ hands, Joel could have had a big assist night. Listen, I don’t get on this, but I really believe he should be the MVP. Tonight, before the game, I said ‘Hey man just keep playing’ and he said ‘Coach, I just wanna win. I’m gonna let it come to me’.”
After the 29 points on Saturday, Embiid is now averaging 30.0 points per game which is good for third behind Giannis Antetokounmpo at 30.1 and LeBron James at 30.3. Rivers is encouraging Embiid to go get the scoring title.
“I almost wanna tell him to try and get 50 or whatever,” Rivers added. “Win the scoring title and he said ‘Only if it comes to me. That’s the only way I want to win anything’ so I thought that was a really cool answer. It also just shows where he’s at as a player.”
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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