The 76ers started off the new year with a dominant victory over a short-handed Rockets last night, and now the association has decided to recognize Joel Embiid’s greatness. Today the NBA announced that Joel Embiid was the Eastern Conference Player of the Month in December.

Let’s start off by making sure to get all of the NBA “statsexuals” on our side and look at the numbers from Joel Embiid’s month of December.

Through the 13 games Joel Embiid suited up for last month, the man averaged 29.2 points, 11.2 rebounds and nearly four assists per game. Six of those games saw Embiid score well over 30 points, including his season-high 43 points against the Hornets. Safe to say when a guy is averaging 30-point double-doubles for an entire month, he deserves some praise.

It isn’t all about the numbers though, as Embiid has been a huge reason why this team has seemingly climbed out of the hole the 76ers put themselves in when Joel was dealing with Covid. The Sixers only went 8-6 in the month of December thanks to a terrible three-game skid against some very banged up squads. However, Embiid has brought this team almost by himself out of the depths.

Without Embiid playing out of his mind this team doesn’t get huge wins against a nearly full strength Nets team or the Warriors at home.

I mean look at the last three games of the month and tell me Joel Embiid hasn’t absolutely dominated.

The 76ers rattled off three straight wins on the road against the Wizards, Raptors, and Nets. In those games, Embiid scored 34, 34, and 36 respectively. In Toronto and Brooklyn Embiid closed out the wins on his own, the main reason why he also leads the league in scoring in the clutch.

The craziest part is the fact that going into 2022, Joel Embiid has only pushed down harder on the gas. The 76ers first game of the new year saw Joel record his third career triple-double with 31 points, 15 boards, and 10 assists. Guess he wanted to boost those assist numbers from December, and with the Magic and Spurs up next Embiid will have some weaker opponents to beat up on.

At the end of the day, it is always nice to see the association recognize the greatness we as 76ers fans observe week in and week out with Joel Embiid. Grabbing a Player of the Month certainly can vault you into MVP conversation too, and with last night’s triple double I expect Embiid’s name to be in that discussion sooner than later.

Mandatory Credit: Matt Slocum