Joel Embiid at risk of being ineligible to win second-straight NBA MVP Award thanks to new CBA ‘games played’ requirement

Drew Smith
December 31, 2023
Sixers
0 Comments

Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid is facing a potential eligibility issue as he continues his bid to win the NBA MVP Award for the second-straight season.

Embiid did not travel with the team on their current 4-game holiday road trip after suffering a sprained ankle against the Toronto Raptors on Friday, December 22nd.

With 50 games left in the NBA regular season, Embiid can only afford to miss a total of 10-games if he still wants to remain eligible to win the Most Valuable Player Award for the second-straight season.

According to the new collective bargaining agreement that went into effect at the start of the 2023-24 season, players are required to participate in a minimum of 65 games to be eligible for the NBA’s regular-season awards. That includes the NBA MVP Award.

Embiid has already missed eight games this season following his absence from the Philadelphia 76ers’ 105-92 loss last night to the Chicago Bulls.

Joel Embiid Last 13 Games Played:

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On the season, Embiid is averaging 35 points, 11.7 rebounds, and 6.0 assists per game. In ESPN’s first edition of their NBA MVP Straw Poll, Embiid jumped out to a massive lead over Nikola Jokic as the favorite to win the award.

In December, Joel Embiid is averaging 40.2 points, 12.6 rebounds, and 4.9 assists in nine games played this month. He has scored 30+ points to go along with 10+ rebounds in 13-straight games.

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The Sixers are 22-10 on the season and currently in third place in the Eastern Conference standings, two games behind the Milwaukee Bucks and 3.5 games behind the first place Boston Celtics.

While Embiid, maybe not be eligible to win NBA MVP when the regular season finally comes to an end, his health is of the upmost importance come playoff time. Embiid has never been healthy in the playoffs and as we all know, the Sixers have yet to figure out how to advance out of the second round.

Honestly, I think Embiid understands that individual accolades are meaningless at this point without performing at a high-level in the playoffs.

Will be interesting to see how Nick Nurse and the Sixers manage this situation over the final stretch of the NBA regular season, but if I had to guess, we’ll be arguing over the fact that Embiid is the NBA’s “True MVP” after being ruled ineligible to winning the award thanks to not enough games under his belt.

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