Joel Embiid rewrites NBA history books, wins the 2021-22 scoring title
Joel Embiid solidified himself in the NBA history books after the 2021-22 season came to an end last night. Embiid was officially crowned with the NBA scoring title, averaging 30.6 points per game this season.
Embiid is the third Sixers player in franchise history to win the scoring title. Wilt Chamberlain took home of the award twice and Allen Iverson won the the scoring title four times.
Embiid beat out Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James after an intense race over the last few weeks. Totaling 2,079 points over the season, he is the first center to win the scoring title since Shaquille O’Neal back in the 1999/2000 season.
Embiid is also the first international born player to win and the first center to average over 30 PPG in a year since Moses Malone did in 1981/1982. His showing on Saturday night against the Pacers also solidified him having the most 40 point, ten rebound games in a season in NBA history.
Another historic record shattered by Embiid is he has averaged the most PPG on the fewest minutes per game in the shot clock era, surpassing Steph Curry’s 2015/2016 season.
During a 31-game run from December 16th to March 2nd, Embiid averaged better than a point per minute, which is the fourth-longest streak of its kind in the last 40 NBA season.
- James Harden in 2018-19 (71 games)
- Giannis Antetokounmpo in 2019-20 (43)
- James Harden again in 2019-20 (40)
With Embiid, it’s all about efficiency. Embiid averages more points per minute than ANYONE who has played a minimum of 300 games with 0.83 points per minute (five points for every six minutes played).
Over the 2021/2022 season, Joel had 13 games where he scored over 40 points and was the only player in the league to average over 30 PPG. He is the first NBA player to average at least 30 points and 11 rebounds for a season since Karl Malone did so in 1989-1990.
Let’s talk about free throws.
Everyone likes to bring up the fact that Embiid is a “foul merchant” and can only score from the foul line (wrong) as a reason why he’s not as dominant as people may think. Of course that’s ridiculous (shout out Ty Lue and JB Bickerstaff) but focusing on the foul line, Embiid averaged 11.8 free throw attempts per game. Only Wilt and Shaq averaged more in a single-season. The difference? Embiid makes 81.4 percent of his free throws while neither Wilt or Shaq ever topped 63 percent from the line.
Joel Embiid is the MVP
Look, I don’t know what’s going to happen with the Most Valuable Player Award. Embiid definitely deserves to take home the honors but Jokic and Giannis both had incredible seasons as well. In my opinion, it’s a two-man race between Embiid and Jokic.
Joel Embiid deserves to win the MVP award. What he has done on the court this year is nothing short of incredible and the history books have been rewritten because of it. I certainly do not need the stamp of approval from the NBA to crown Joel Embiid as the MVP, although it would be a great honor for a player that has checked every box as to why he deserves it.
Watch this video from Drew Hanlen
NBA Playoffs Bonus Codes
Mandatory Credit: David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images
[…] entire thing is stupid and just like Joel Embiid not favorited to winning the MVP Award this season, no one can provide me with a good explanation […]