Backstory: Joel Embiid’s Game 2 postgame press conference comments on Jaren Jackson Jr and the Memphis Grizzlies home stats controversy
Jaren Jackson Jr. won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award on Monday and of course, was pretty emotional by the honor.
The Memphis Grizzlies shared a video on Twitter showing Jackson’s reaction to winning the DPOY award, with he and his mother featured. Jackson’s mom was extremely vocal in the clip, while Jaren just sat back and soaked it all in.
Jaren Jackson Jr wins Defensive Player of the Year
Jackson walked away with the honor after grabbing 56 first place votes, 35 second place votes, and six third place votes for a total of 391 points. In second place, was Brook Lopez of the Milwaukee Bucks with 309 total points.
Jackson led the NBA with 3.0 blocks per game while also averaging 1.0 steals per game. He became the second Grizzlies player to win the award following Marc Gasol, who won it in 2012-2013 season.
Joel Embiid finished with one first place vote. Shoutout Doris Burke.
Embiid throws shade at Memphis Grizzlies following Game 2
At the same time, Embiid and the Sixers jumped out to a 2-0 series lead against the Brooklyn Nets and after the game, Embiid threw some shade at Jackson in his post game press conference.
There were a few different posts on Reddit and across social media that speculated the Memphis Grizzlies were boosting Jaren Jackson Jr’s stats during home games of the regular season.
People on Reddit provided examples of plays where Jackson Jr was credited with blocks or steals when his teammates should have actually gotten credit.
And then, on Saturday morning, a lengthy post gained traction on Reddit. The thread, by user u/ADMassive6666, was titled “Memphis Grizzlies scorekeeper posting fraudulent numbers.” The post itself alleged that the scorekeeper working Grizzlies home games was artificially inflating Jackson’s block and steal numbers, which, in turn, fueled the momentum behind Jackson’s Defensive Player of the Year campaign.
Soon after, Caesars Sportsbook removed Defensive Player of the Year odds from the board. Other books left the odds up and saw a significant movement toward other candidates. According to The Athletic’s Fred Katz, the post “is making its way around the league now, not just the internet.”
The central thesis of the post is that Jackson is being unfairly awarded extra blocks and steals by the Grizzlies’ scorekeeper when he plays at home. In 16 home games, Jackson has accumulated 66 blocks and 22 steals. In 17 road games, Jackson has blocked 37 shots and racked up only 12 steals. The post listed seven specific plays in which the writer believed that Jackson was unfairly awarded either a block or a steal.
Jaren Jackson Jr Stat Padding Conspiracy Evidence
Embiid scored 20 points with 19 rebounds, seven assists, a steal, and three blocks in Game 2 of the Sixers’ series against the Brooklyn Nets and said this when looking at the box score after the game in his post game presser.
Joel Embiid: “Only three blocks? Damn, I need the Memphis scorekeeper.”
Well, it’s safe to say that Embiid is back in full “troll form” after the Sixers jumped out to 2-0 series lead against the “Record Merchants” in Brooklyn.
The Nets simply can’t hang with the Sixers and the strategy in slowing Embiid down from head coach Jacque Vaughn just hasn’t worked over the first two games of this series.
Embiid also took some shots at the Nuggets and Jokic stats and compared Nets’ head coach Jacque Vaughn to Nick Nurse for complaining about the officiating and foul calls.
This is all just two games into the NBA Playoffs. Can you imagine what Embiid will be saying after he’s officially announced the NBA MVP of the league?
I for one, cannot wait.
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