BREAKING: Joel Embiid sitting out tonight's MVP duel vs. Nikola Jokic (PHI@DEN)

[Im Still Ballin]

Jesus.

:roll:

Did that interview dissing Jokic today but then decides to duck him? Come on, man.

[Vino24]

Embiid ducking Jokic like he ducks the conference finals

[highwhey]

damn. ducking jokic like OP ducks touching grass

[fourkicks44]

That is a huge "f#ck you" to everyone right there

:oldlol:

[Real Men Wear Green]

That is a huge "f#ck you" to everyone right there

:oldlol:
He just cost himself the MVP award and likely ended any hope Philly had for a top 2 seed.

[Vino24]

That is a huge "f#ck you" to everyone right there

:oldlol:

The guy likes attention even if negative lol

[Manny98]

What a bitch :roll::roll::roll:

Give Jokic the MVP

[Kblaze8855]

That is a huge "f#ck you" to everyone right there

:oldlol:


Including his fans. Don’t you wanna see that matchup?

[RogueBorg]

That's this era of soft AF athletes. They don't want to compete and beat eachother, they want to play together.

Lebron and Durant are the poster bois for this era.

Giannis needs to show them the way.

[Mask the Embiid]

He just cost himself the MVP award and likely ended any hope Philly had for a top 2 seed.

O well. They weren’t gonna vote for him anyway.


Including his fans. Don’t you wanna see that matchup?

No, we already seen the outcome of this matchup :oldlol:. Some people just refuse to accept it


Troel with the coup de grace troll to the voters. One last fk you. Man this mf is the greatest :oldlol:

[fourkicks44]

He just cost himself the MVP award and likely ended any hope Philly had for a top 2 seed.

They were never getting to 2 seed anyway. 3 seed was more than guaranteed.

Joel has just told the voters to go stick their award up there ass.

I want to see the match up, sure. But gotta think big picture too.

[RogueBorg]

O well. They weren’t gonna vote for him anyway.



No, we already seen the outcome of this matchup :oldlol:. Some people just refuse to accept it

Pathetic

[Im Still Ballin]

Embiid has now sat out 14 games this season. Shaq used to lose MVPs because he missed similar amounts of games.


This will be Joel Embiid’s 14th missed game of the season. Just one player in NBA history has missed 12+ games and still won the MVP award that season - Bill Walton in 1977-78, who missed 24 games.

[ShawkFactory]

O well. They weren’t gonna vote for him anyway.



No, we already seen the outcome of this matchup :oldlol:. Some people just refuse to accept it

If he came out and dominated? He sure as shit would have been voted for. In reality, if the sixers won with Embiid giving it to Jokic his MVP is locked up.

Now? He's just pissed people off by denying everyone a matchup they're been looking forward to for weeks. Not a good look and could sway some people who previously would have voted for him.

[Vino24]

Embiid throwing in the towel before the 2nd round :oldlol: he don’t want that ass whooping

[Kblaze8855]

O well. They weren’t gonna vote for him anyway.



No, we already seen the outcome of this matchup :oldlol:. Some people just refuse to accept it


Troel with the coup de grace troll to the voters. One last fk you. Man this mf is the greatest :oldlol:


Actively rooting for worse…less entertaining ball. Worse matchups. Supporting the best individual matchup in our league right now being skipped.

I don’t know if you are an absolute troll or just a jackass.

[fourkicks44]

If he came out and dominated? He sure as shit would have been voted for. In reality, if the sixers won with Embiid giving it to Jokic his MVP is locked up.

Now? He's just pissed people off by denying everyone a matchup they're been looking forward to for weeks. Not a good look and could sway some people who previously would have voted for him.


I'm going out on a limb here man and tell you I don't think he gives a f#ck about the MVP award :oldlol:

[tontoz]

This is fitting since it highlights the reason why he hasn't won MVP. He misses too many games.

This will be the 14th game he has missed this season. Pretty sure no MVP in the last 20 years has missed that many games.

[basketballcat]

He's afraid of getting exposed. He is acutely aware of the playoff race.

If he plays and Jokic wins, the narrative will be overwhelming: Jokic defeats Giannis & Embiid in sucession, MVP race over.
If he doesn't play and Denver loses: great for Embiid.
If he plays and Denver wins: he can say it doesn't count and he will cling to his 1-game MVP against Jokic.

We can see through it, though. What he has really done is raise a flag of surrender.

[Im Still Ballin]

I'm going out on a limb here man and tell you I don't think he gives a f#ck about the MVP award :oldlol:

Read the interview he did today - he definitely cares. Kblaze made a thread about it.

[Vino24]

I'm going out on a limb here man and tell you I don't think he gives a f#ck about the MVP award :oldlol:

He don’t care about making it out of the 2nd round either lol

[Manny98]

He don’t care about making it out of the 2nd round either lol
:oldlol:

[fourkicks44]

Read the interview he did today - he definitely cares. Kblaze made a thread about it.

Cared.

Past tense.

He is obviously just pissed of about it all now.

[ShawkFactory]

I'm going out on a limb here man and tell you I don't think he gives a f#ck about the MVP award :oldlol:

Perhaps. My statement doesn't really have anything to do with whether or not he cares though.

[Wardell Curry]

https://media.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExOGEyMjRkNzMxMTZmZTRlNThhMGRkNTd jNDM1OWYzNjcyNDJjMWJiYiZjdD1n/xT1XGESDlxj0GwoDRe/giphy-downsized-large.gif

[L.Kizzle]

I was told a few weeks ago one game (this game in particular) doesn't matter. Well, I guess it does.

[fourkicks44]

I feel there is more to this story that we are missing right now that's gonna come out later.

[Wardell Curry]

I feel there is more to this story that we are missing right now that's gonna come out later.

Yeah it's called James Harden isn't playing so Joel Embiid is deciding to sit.

[fourkicks44]

Yeah it's called James Harden isn't playing so Joel Embiid is deciding to sit.

Harden is playing tonight.

Apparently he was lobbing the ball off the backboard to himself and dunking in shoot around at the same time Joel was getting his calf iced.

[ArbitraryWater]

Nah thats ***** af.


Joker the MVP now

[Mask the Embiid]

Actively rooting for worse…less entertaining ball. Worse matchups. Supporting the best individual matchup in our league right now being skipped.

I don’t know if you are an absolute troll or just a jackass.

Meltdown

[Axe]

Lol. What a sissy.

[Kblaze8855]

Meltdown


you’re just being fake. There is no way that any real fan doesn’t want to see his favorite player in a super hyped matchup versus his biggest rival. These matchups or what the NBA is all about.

[BigShotBob]

you’re just being fake. There is no way that any real fan doesn’t want to see his favorite player in a super hyped matchup versus his biggest rival. These matchups or what the NBA is all about.

It's not like Embiid didn't already decimate Jokic before so oh well

[Kblaze8855]

When Kobe and Tmac or Lebron were about to play nobodies excitement was diminished by the stats from a previous matchup. The nba and the fans live for these matchups. It’s literally the only bigman matchup left worth talking about. Not having pride enough to compete for yourself is a joke. Talk shit about a guy in the media and back out when it’s time to play. It’s just weak.

[BigShotBob]

When Kobe and Tmac or Lebron were about to play nobodies excitement was diminished by the stats from a previous matchup. The nba and the fans live for these matchups. It’s literally the only bigman matchup left worth talking about. Not having pride enough to compete for yourself is a joke. Talk shit about a guy in the media and back out when it’s time to play. It’s just weak.

It's not a good look to happen in such succession so I don't disagree there. He could have played this game and sat out the next one. But this is an interesting opportunity. If the Nuggets lose at home without Embiid then Jokic looks worse, if the Nuggets win then Embiid may still look "valuable". I'm sure he didn't think that far ahead and the coaching staff/training staff said we have to think long term.

[Dbrog]

Including his fans. Don’t you wanna see that matchup?

It's actually the reason I stopped watching the regular season a few years back. This "load management" shit has created such a poor overall product. We gonna start having to do Tennis shit where the league starts saying it's mandatory for stars to play certain games if you want to be in it.

edit: Actually golf doing this now not tennis*

[BigShotBob]

It's actually the reason I stopped watching the regular season a few years back. This "load management" shit has created such a poor overall product. We gonna start having to do Tennis shit where the league starts saying it's mandatory for stars to play certain games if you want to be in it.

The league having to step in to force players to play in marquee matchups would be beyond embarrassing

[Dbrog]

The league having to step in to force players to play in marquee matchups would be beyond embarrassing

Ya man. It's kinda pathetic when you see gifted athletes be so mentally weak that even the thought of playing someone else one on one terrifies them. We had the same discussion around Allstar time. MILK.TOAST.

[Real Men Wear Green]

Load management often makes sense especially for a star of a contending team. But if that's what he's doing he shouldn't talk about Jokic leading up to the game.

[Druckenmiller]

PUSS. E.

The entire league is turning into a steaming pile of ��because it’s full bitches.

Bring back the JailBlazers, Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson, Bitdman or anyone else who actually looks they could go to the pen over this WNBA Look alike contest we have now.

[Axe]

https://media.tenor.com/Pi7uwzRH-kgAAAAC/soft-kobe-bryant.gif

[AlternativeAcc.]

Embiid is the biggest fakkit in the sport.

Let's cry to the media about MVP for the millionth time and decide to sit in a game where he could actually get the award if he dominates and wins. :roll:

Corny loser. Won't ever win shit. Jokic back to back to back. :bowdown:

[plowking]

I'm going out on a limb here man and tell you I don't think he gives a f#ck about the MVP award :oldlol:


I think thats pretty asinine. As kids you dream about winning the finals, game winning shots, and being the MVP of the league.

The MVP is the most prestigious award in any sport.

[DMAVS41]

It's not a good look to happen in such succession so I don't disagree there. He could have played this game and sat out the next one. But this is an interesting opportunity. If the Nuggets lose at home without Embiid then Jokic looks worse, if the Nuggets win then Embiid may still look "valuable". I'm sure he didn't think that far ahead and the coaching staff/training staff said we have to think long term.

It won't work like that though.

If the Sixers win this game without Joel/Harden...Joel comes off the worst. The Sixers will have a great record without him for the year and just won a huge game against the best West team without their two best players.

Only Joel fans could spin that as a positive for his case for MVP.

[DMAVS41]

When Kobe and Tmac or Lebron were about to play nobodies excitement was diminished by the stats from a previous matchup. The nba and the fans live for these matchups. It’s literally the only bigman matchup left worth talking about. Not having pride enough to compete for yourself is a joke. Talk shit about a guy in the media and back out when it’s time to play. It’s just weak.

Absolutely this.

Hard to think of a weaker mentality than to talk shit before you sit out.

[DMAVS41]

I'm going out on a limb here man and tell you I don't think he gives a f#ck about the MVP award :oldlol:

He definitely cares, a lot...LOL at thinking he doesn't care.

[plowking]

It won't work like that though.

If the Sixers win this game without Joel/Harden...Joel comes off the worst. The Sixers will have a great record without him for the year and just won a huge game against the best West team without their two best players.

Only Joel fans could spin that as a positive for his case for MVP.


You have to play to be valuable to your team. Your case doesn't grow through sitting and not playing regardless of results. Never understood that logic.

[DMAVS41]

You have to play to be valuable to your team. Your case doesn't grow through sitting and not playing regardless of results. Never understood that logic.

Exactly. Not only is he missing another game, but the hypothetical is that him missing a big game and his team winning anyway...somehow makes him more deserving of MVP????

Literally makes no sense.

[1987_Lakers]

Wow, I was looking forward to the matchup. Embiid is not my MVP.

Give it to Jokic.

[Vino24]

I hope 76ers win without this bum

[basketballcat]

Jokic already has 4 assists. Oh dear me. He might get the W and boost his apg to double digits.

[kawhileonard2]

Didn't want to break him again.

[fourkicks44]

You have to play to be valuable to your team. Your case doesn't grow through sitting and not playing regardless of results. Never understood that logic.

Ironically that is not true at all.

Jokic's MVP campaign is VORP which is 100% about sitting.

He is about to win 3 straight MVP because of how his team performs when he not on court.



He definitely cares, a lot...LOL at thinking he doesn't care.

Well not really. If he cared enough he would play right?

He clearly knew there was no MVP after this.

It is honestly hard to tell whats going on. I'm not going to even try guess. I'm sure we will find out more.

Imagine being a fan of this God damn team. I wouldn't wish it upon anyone :facepalm

[RRR3]

Who tf cedes an MVP? I like Embiid but this is super lame.

[Vino24]

Embiid’s team is more stacked clearly. They keeping pace

[DMAVS41]

Ironically that is not true at all.

Jokic's MVP campaign is VORP which is 100% about sitting.

He is about to win 3 straight MVP because of how his team performs when he not on court.




Well not really. If he cared enough he would play right?

He clearly knew there was no MVP after this.

It is honestly hard to tell whats going on. I'm not going to even try guess. I'm sure we will find out more.

Imagine being a fan of this God damn team. I wouldn't wish it upon anyone :facepalm

There is a difference between being on the bench and missing games. Also a difference when one team is significantly worse when the respective stars are on their bench...or missing games as is evidenced by the numbers and just the win / loss record. Now, I agree with you that too much is made of that, especially this season, as the Nuggets are quite capable with their starters outside of Jokic, but have had a horrid bench all year. This, to an extent, inflates the on/off of Jokic and clearly leads some voters down a path that over-rates the impact of Jokic.

End of the day though...it is insanely impressive to have this Nuggets team where they are when his team falls apart like they have all year without him.

To him caring about MVP. I think he does and I don't think he loses for sure after this at all. Definitely hurts him missing, with either result, but I don't think it is over at all. I just think he cares a lot given his comments over the last couple years...to me, from the outside, it looks like it weighs on him quite a bit.

I don't mind him sitting or any reason...but the talking shit part and then sitting when you really aren't injured...that was super weak.

[Im Still Ballin]

Damn. Joker killing it. Denver in Denver is a tough assignment.

[fourkicks44]

There is a difference between being on the bench and missing games. Also a difference when one team is significantly worse when the respective stars are on their bench...or missing games as is evidenced by the numbers and just the win / loss record. Now, I agree with you that too much is made of that, especially this season, as the Nuggets are quite capable with their starters outside of Jokic, but have had a horrid bench all year. This, to an extent, inflates the on/off of Jokic and clearly leads some voters down a path that over-rates the impact of Jokic.

End of the day though...it is insanely impressive to have this Nuggets team where they are when his team falls apart like they have all year without him.

To him caring about MVP. I think he does and I don't think he loses for sure after this at all. Definitely hurts him missing, with either result, but I don't think it is over at all. I just think he cares a lot given his comments over the last couple years...to me, from the outside, it looks like it weighs on him quite a bit.

I don't mind him sitting or any reason...but the talking shit part and then sitting when you really aren't injured...that was super weak.

Yeah man can't really disagree with that too much.

I will say tho. Caring about the MVP and being bitter about it are two different things.

Joel seems pretty bitter.

[basketballcat]

Triple double and W. Goodbye Embiid MVP. :lebronamazed:

[1987_Lakers]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FsRZFFAWIAUNB4Q?format=jpg&name=small

[fourkicks44]

Triple double and W. Goodbye Embiid MVP. :lebronamazed:

Bball Paul murdering everyone out there tho.

Off the bench.

Making Doc and everyone else look like fools.

Actually has an offensive rebounding rate greater than Moses Malone.

Take that for Data.

I know how much you kids like your advance stats.

[Wardell Curry]

Harden is playing tonight.

https://i.imgflip.com/36ypb4.jpg

[basketballcat]

Bball Paul murdering everyone out there tho.

Off the bench.

Making Doc and everyone else look like fools.

Actually has an offensive rebounding rate greater than Moses Malone.

Take that for Data.

I know how much you kids like your advance stats.

Ok, boomer. :dancin

[Chuckbe]

https://i.ibb.co/9YFPTVm/nga.jpg

[fourkicks44]

Ok, boomer. :dancin

Good luck in the playoffs.

Springer and ****ing Montrez Harrell nealy won the game in garbage time against the Denver starters.

[1987_Lakers]

Good luck in the playoffs.

Springer and ****ing Montrez Harrell nealy won the game in garbage time against the Denver starters.

Damn, Philly is stacked. Jokic MVP for sure.

[Xiao Yao You]

https://i.ibb.co/9YFPTVm/nga.jpg

:applause:

[ArbitraryWater]

wtf is a first team all star

[sbw19]

Savvy move by Embiid. Now there is even MORE pressure to win on Joker now that he's sealed his case for MVP.

[Xiao Yao You]

The NBA and NBPA have agreed to tie eligibility for postseason awards to a mandatory 65 games played.

The 65-game minimum does come with some conditions.
The new rule is an attempt to reduce load management and lost games among star players.
All-NBA determines whether certain players become eligible for supermax contracts.




looks like this was Embiid's last chance at MVP and it will open up another spot at center on the All NBA

[Xiao Yao You]

Mike Vorkunov: Heard that All-NBA teams will now be positionless in the new CBA, (https://*********.com/social/) according to league sources.

– via Twitter MikeVorkunov (https://twitter.com/MikeVorkunov)




Jokic might be the only center to make all NBA going forward

[Axe]

Guys like embiid and jokic can sit out for some games and they'd still be candidates for mvp over the likes of toody. :bowdown:

[Xiao Yao You]

Guys like embiid and jokic can sit out for some games and they'd still be candidates for mvp over the likes of toody. :bowdown:

not if they don't play 65 games which Embiid has done exactly once. Good luck with that :facepalm