2022 NBA MVP ballots: Does Sixers’ Joel Embiid deserve to win?

2022 NBA MVP ballot — Christopher Kline

1. Nikola Jokic
2. Joel Embiid
3. Giannis Antetokounmpo 
4. Devin Booker
5. Luka Doncic

Apologies to Ja Morant, Stephen Curry, DeMar DeRozan, Jayson Tatum, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and whoever else you’re upset isn’t included. Unfortunately there are five spots, which can house only five players. Every name I just listed has a case, every name is “deserving” in one way or another. Such is the ultimate, unavoidable tragedy of MVP voting.

Alas, my pick is Nikola Jokic, which places me in stark contrast to most of my Sixers-adjacent readership. Obviously, as someone who watches every game and who has followed Embiid’s career from the very beginning, I am aware of both his dominance and the unique hurdles he overcame to reach this point. Nobody “deserves” MVP more than Embiid — he’s been to hell and back in the NBA and his work ethic, personality, and competitive spirit are nothing short of miraculous. If he wins, it will have been fully, unquestionably earned.

Unfortunately, several deserving candidate have posted historic numbers this season. Nikola Jokic just happens to have a (marginally) more compelling statistical case, with superior efficiency despite working extremely hard for a team with even less top-end talent around him than Philadelphia has around Embiid.

As of this writing, the Nuggets are two games behind Philadelphia in the loss column. That’s not enough to sway the vote, no matter the standings. Both Denver and Philadelphia have overcome improbable odds and survived pervasive difficulties, while both Jokic and Embiid have been singularly dominant. They’ve been the two best players in the NBA this season, both should make first team All-NBA, and both are on Hall of Fame trajectories.

Giannis Antetokounmpo is in the mix too. He might sneak away with his third MVP and it would be difficult to argue otherwise. It’s all nitpicking between the three. The Bucks have had more “help,” yes, but the Bucks are also the best team of the three and Giannis is by far the most impactful defender. He has a case for Defensive Player of the Year. Embiid is a brilliant defender in his own right (and Jokic has been really solid on the defensive end all season), but anyone making the “he actually plays defense” argument should probably be inclined toward Giannis.

The top three feel definitive, even if the exact order doesn’t. Beyond that, my picks are Devin Booker — the best and healthiest player on the NBA’s best team this season — and Luka Doncic, whose statistical exploits on the four-seed Mavs are well documented, despite the Mavs’ roster not really looking like it should belong to a top-four seed.