Ultra-dominant, Cameroonian Joel Embiid walks on the NBA

Published on : 17/04/2021 – 18:59

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Joel Embiid signed a new recital, Friday, April 16, with the Philadelphia 76ers against the Los Angeles Clippers (106-103). Author of 36 points and 14 rebounds, the Cameroonian has had a huge season in the NBA. The pivot connects high-level performanches, to the point of being cited among the favorites for the title of best player (MVP).

« MVP! MVP! “: These are the three letters chanted by the 4000 spectators of the Wells Fargo Center, the temple of basketball where the Philadelphia 76ers (the” Sixers “) play, Friday, to salute their team’s victory against the Los Angeles Clippers ( 106-103) and especially to give an ovation Joel Embiid. Three letters for Most Valuable Player, or the award given to the best player of the season.

The statuette symbolizing the award is not yet in the hands of Cameroonians. The season is still long: the regular phase will only end in a month, then the playoffs will come between May and July. But Joel Embiid is one of the favorites for this prestigious distinction.

Against the Clippers, the 27-year-old pivot still scored 36 points and took 14 rebounds. Since 2006, no Sixers player had played three consecutive games with more than 35 points on the clock.

In Iverson’s footsteps despite his injury

The Embiid show is in line with previous huge matches from the child of Yaoundé. On February 19, the man nicknamed “The Process” slammed 50 points (and 17 rebounds) against the Chicago Bulls, his career record. A record and a taste of nostalgia among the Sixers: no Philadelphia player had scored 50 points since 2005 and a certain Allen Iverson, the last 76ers to receive the title of MVP (in 2001).

The giant is averaging 30 points and 11 rebounds in this 2020-2021 season. Before his 50 points passed to the Bulls, the No. 21 had already crossed the 40 point mark four times. And unlike other pivots, he does not tremble on the free throw line. And to think that a nasty twist of the left knee made fear the worst … On March 12, after a successful dunk against the Utah Jazz, Joel Embiid injured his left knee.

A premature end of the season was feared, but ultimately, the Cameroonian missed “only” ten games between March and April. Ten matches that his teammates were able to manage without him (seven wins, three losses). And since his return, “JoJo” has resumed his unstoppable march forward. Les Sixers lead the Eastern Conference with 39 wins and almost 70% wins.

The competition is tough with Jokic, Antetokounmpo, Harden …

In tune with the Philadelphia public, Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid’s “lieutenant”, is adamant: “ I think clearly the MVP this season is him. He dominates so much! What does the person think? Before crunching the Clippers, the pivot had admitted that he felt ” well put In this race. But obviously, not everything depends on him.

First, these 18 games missed in total can serve him. And then the competition is tough. James Harden, winner in 2018 and passed in January from the Houston Rockets to the Brooklyn Nets, is there. Le Grec Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks), awarded in 2019 and 2020, would be well given the pass of three. And the Serbian Nikola Jovic of the Denver Nuggets is highly cited as the next MVP. According to a recent survey by the American channel ESPN, this last one is even largely at the head of the voting intentions.

Nothing is played, but Joel Embiid has a card to play. His chances can only increase with his current performance. If he were to be elected for the 2020-2021 season, the Cameroonian would be the second African player MVP in NBA history after Hakeem Olajuwon in 1993-1994 (Giannis Antetokounmpo, he was born to Nigerian parents, but he is of Greek nationality and plays for the Greek selection).

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