2022 NBA MVP ballot — Jonathan Geib
- Joel Embiid
- Nikola Jokic
- Giannis Antetokounmpo
- DeMar DeRozan
- LeBron James
The NBA Most Valuable Player race is heating up with the regular season coming to a close and two clear front runners are leading the way: Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic.
Jokic and Embiid finished, 1st and 2nd respectively in the MVP voting last season, although Jokic received 91 first place votes to Embiid’s 1 first place vote. A key contributing factor in last year’s MVP race though was that Embiid only played in 51 out of a possible 82 regular season games and Jokic played in 72. The lack of availability was the driving negative force to keep Embiid out of serious contention for the award.
This season, Embiid is on track to play in 69 games which would be the most games he has played in his entire career. That amount should eliminate any voters from holding availability against him again in this years’ MVP voting. Now Jokic is having another incredible year and currently ranks 2nd in the league in rebounding and 1st for player efficiency rating, which is used to present the per-minute benefit provided to a team by an individual player.
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There is no denying Jokic is well-deserving of the MVP award, but Embiid is more deserving. Embiid has a chance to be the first big man to lead the NBA in points per game since Shaquille O’Neal and he has carried the Philadelphia 76ers to within striking distance of the best record in the Eastern Conference. Embiid has accomplished those feats, all the while not having another superstar alongside him for the majority of the year and dealing with the Ben Simmons drama that dragged on for this team until the trade deadline.
Historically, the MVP is given to the best player on a team with one of the best records in the NBA as opposed to strictly being awarded to the player that by definition is the most valuable to his team. However, this season I believe Joel Embiid embodies both of those descriptions. Jokic and the Nuggets are in 6th place in the West and bordering on being in the Play-In Tournament prior to the NBA Playoffs. This year Embiid is the NBA’s Most Valuable Player and it would be an incomprehensible disservice to not award him that honor.