Brian Windhorst fails to explain Joel Embiid MVP voting drop-off and I’m starting to think no one can
Brian Windhorst joined ESPN last night to talk about the MVP Award and the race between Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid, and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Windhorst, who does have a vote for the MVP Award, attempted to break down the race as the regular season comes to an end. Let’s take a listen.
Brian Windhorst on ESPN talking about Joel Embiid, MVP race
I have been on record multiple times saying how much I can’t stand Brian Windhorst. That has not changed in the slightest. I do however, credit him for voting for Joel Embiid in both straw polls and hope that he casts his vote this week for Embiid on the final ballot.
Still, I really don’t understand Windhorst, or anyones reasoning as to why Joel Embiid, during the time between two straw polls, fell off so much in the MVP voting.
No one has been able to provide me with any type of explanation.
The Straw Poll
ESPN’s Tim Bontemps has made a name for himself by tracking MVP voting closely throughout the season and annually posts a final poll towards the end of March to highlight where the race is likely to finish.
The straw poll of media members from 28 different markets is designed to perfectly mirror the voting process of the real ballots. This final “NBA MVP Straw Poll” has been going since 2017 and has correctly predicted the MVP winner every season outside of its first year.
The last ESPN MVP straw poll was released on February 17th. On that date, Embiid had 45 first place votes, two ahead of Nikola Jokic with 43 votes. When it was released again on March 29th, Jokic had 62 first place votes compared to Joel Embiid who somehow dropped down to 29 first place votes.
During the time between the two polls, here are the numbers for Embiid and Jokic:
Embiid: 31-12-3-1.5 on 47-33-83 +4.7 and 10-5 Record
Jokic: 27-13-8-1.5-1 on 60-22-82 +1.6 and 11-6 Record
How does such a drastic change happen in the polling when you compare both players individual numbers and team records? What were the voters looking at that caused such gigantic swing in voting?
Windhorst credits the major drop in Embiid’s voting because the Sixers struggled after the Harden trade. That doesn’t make sense, because the the 76ers are seven games above .500 since acquiring James Harden at the trade deadline, with a record of 13-6.
As of tonight, they are in a three-way tie for second place in the Eastern Conference with the Bucks and Celtics, 2.5 games behind the East-leading Miami Heat. I really don’t see the 76ers struggles or any type of drop off in Embiid’s production.
From there, Windhorst notes that Nikola Jokic had a breath taking month of March and the fact that it was one of the best months of Jokic’s entire career. So let’s take a look at the “breathtaking month” of March from Jokic compared to Joel Embiid.
Nikola Jokic averaged 29.9 points, 12.7 rebounds and 7.9 assists in 15 games in March.
Joel Embiid averaged 30.5 points, 12.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 15 games in March.
Still confused? Trust me, I am too.
Windhorst then continues to say that since Joel Embiid “fell off” while Giannis has played better, which could possibly be the reason Embiid lost so many votes was because a lot of his votes went to Antetokounmpo instead.
Joel Embiid averaged 30.5 points, 12.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 15 games in March.
Giannis Antetokounmpo averaged 33.3 points, 12.8 rebounds and 4.8 assists in 12 games in March.
I really don’t see a huge vote swing coming based on that reasoning either and after listening to Windhorst, I’m still just as confused as I was when I started writing this blog post. So with all of that considered
Joel Embiid should win the MVP Award
After last night’s 45 point performance against the Indiana Pacers, Joel Embiid took over as the leader to win the NBA Scoring Title.
It was Embiid’s second straight game with at least 40 points and his 11th game of the season with 40+ points and 10+ rebounds. He tied Moses Malone (1981-82) and Russell Westbrook (2016-17) for the most 40 and 10 games in a season by an NBA player since the ABA-NBA merger.
Embiid is on pace to be the first center since Shaquille O’Neal and the first international player ever to win the scoring title. He is also poised to become just the six center in NBA HISTORY to average 30 points per game and the FIRST to accomplish such a feat in under 20 shots per game.
I honestly I have no idea what Joel Embiid has to do anymore. He has carried the 76ers all season without Ben Simmons, navigating through absolute hell for the first half of the season. He has missed a handful of games (not including the extended period of time due to COVID) and up until the trade deadline when the Sixers got James Harden, he had no legitimate second option.
It’s like everyone forgot what happened after Christmas until the end of January.
Honest question: What more does Joel Embiid have to do in order to get some respect? It’s ridiculous that after such an incredible season and record-breaking performances like last night, we’re even discussing the possibility of him not winning the MVP.
The NBA hates Joel Embiid, Daryl Morey, The Process, and the Philadelphia 76ers
From Daryl Morey and what happened with China and Hong Kong, the process and Sam Hinke, to Joel Embiid himself. The national media and the NBA have completely turned their backs on Embiid and the 76ers.
People think I’m joking when I say that the NBA Deep State is real, but I honestly believe that.
As far as I’m concerned, if Joel Embiid doesn’t win the NBA Most Valuable Player Award, then the entire voting process is completely compromised and any awards moving forward are a complete joke and shouldn’t be taken seriously by anyone.
This isn’t even an insult to Nikola Jokic or Giannis Antetokounmpo. They are both fantastic basketball players. However this season, no one is more valuable to their team than Joel Embiid.
Plain and simple.
