Pretty Reliable Celebrity Shams Report: In the recent Philadelphia away game against the Nuggets, Embiid only entered the team's injury report 15 minutes before the game, which will undoubtedly attract an investigation from the league.
After that game, the head coach of the Nuggets also called on the league to investigate Embiid's sudden absence!
The big guys know that the matchup between Embiid and Jokic has become one of the most interesting matchups in the NBA in the past two years. It's not just a battle for the NBA's No. 1 center, but also a battle for MVP. Last time, the 76ers who played at home, Embiid played, scored 41 points, 7 rebounds and 10 assists, and crushed Jokic's 25 points and 19 rebounds, and led the team to victory. And this time, when he came to the Nuggets' home court, Embiid missed the contract, and in the end, the Nuggets also managed to win and pull one back. It is worth mentioning that the last time Embiid played at the Nuggets' home court was 1,543 days ago, which ranks first among all players in the NBA.
So the question arises, why does Embiid seem so reluctant to play on the Nuggets' home court? Including this time again! Although the NBA has not yet released the official results of the investigation, we can basically guess a few points.
76ers head coach Nas's statement about Embiid's absence was a decision made by the medical team 25 minutes before kickoff because Embiid had a sore knee. However, there is a high probability that the injury will not be serious this time, because Embiid can play as long as he wants. And if it's serious, there's no need to be on the activation roster against the Nuggets in the first place.
Therefore, the 76ers and Embiid gave up this peak matchup whose intensity was destined to be small for the sake of insurance and to avoid the aggravation of injuries this time. Secondly, the Nuggets are the highest-altitude home court in the NBA, which makes most players a little uncomfortable and have potential injuries, and they don't want to play at such a home court. These may explain why Embiid hasn't played on the Nuggets' home court for more than four years. But for Embiid, what is missing is a peak matchup, and what is missing may be more than just one game. Because according to the new collective bargaining agreement, Embiid must play at least 65 games if he wants to participate in awards such as MVP and Team of the Year this season.
This seems to explain why the Nuggets don't go home for this high-intensity matchup, most likely to stay as healthy as possible and avoid missing more games in the future, so as to ensure that they can play 65 games or more. However, after the 76ers lost to the Nuggets, Embiid said in an interview that he would not force himself to pursue the MVP unless he really had a chance to get a second MVP. And judging from Embiid's performance this season, he averaged 36 points per game and 114 rebounds 58 assists, including 70 points and 18 rebounds in a game, and the team's record has been in the top three in the East for a long time. So from this point of view, Embiid is very likely to be two consecutive MVPs.
This is also the reason why Embiid was willing to take a sudden turn off under huge pressure, most likely because he wanted to fight for MVP. But judging from the current situation, Embiid seems to have a bit of a trick. If the NBA determines that he deliberately avoided the matchup, he may be banned for five or more games. At that time, Embiid's two-game MVP may really be gone. If you don't have the number of games, everything is empty talk. Embiid and the 76ers seem to be remedy. announced that the Trail Blazers, who are second to last in the West, will continue to take a break, so that Embiid can still rest for 5 games this season, and no more will really be able to participate in the selection of MVP-related awards.
Embiid's data is very missing, but the NBA is a commercial league after all, and the absence of such a focus matchup, or a sudden decision made 15 minutes before the game, will have an impact on the ticket revenue of the game and the perception of fans. And to measure the value of a player, it is not only the MVP, but also the championship and AFMVP, which are more important. Moreover, since Embiid has already won an MVP, he should go for something higher than think about winning another MVP. Although Embiid's statistics this season are crushing Jokic, in the eyes of many people, Embiid and Jokic are still not far behind. Because the superstar is standard, it is obviously MVP+FMP.