Joel Embiid finally got his NBA MVP award last season.
After consecutive second-place MVP finishes behind Nikola Jokic, Embiid received 73 of the 100 first-place votes as he beat out the Denver Nuggets center by more than 200 points for the award.
But, as NBC Sports’ Drew Dinsick explained, the Philadelphia 76ers big man may struggle to get that kind of support for a repeat MVP campaign after how last season ended.
"I think the fact that he struggled in the playoffs and the Sixers ultimately were out before we even got to the Eastern Conference Finals will give the voters something to hold against him this year," Dinsick said.
Get Connecticut local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Connecticut newsletters.
Embiid and Co. looked like they were finally going to break through and make the conference finals last season when they took a 3-2 series lead over the Boston Celtics in Round 2. But the Sixers couldn't close out the series at home in Game 6 and they were embarrassed in a Game 7 blowout in Boston.
Embiid, who was playing through a knee sprain, didn't attempt a shot in the final three-plus minutes of Game 6 before struggling mightily (15 points on 5-for-18 shooting) in Game 7. While MVP is a regular-season award, how Embiid finished that series could possibly still factor into some voters' calculus.
And that's not the only thing that may be working against The Process in his bid for a second straight MVP.
NBA
"The fact that the Sixers look likely to take a step back will hurt their potential of getting a top-three seed in the East, and with that, will give the voters even more incentive not to reward Embiid with a second MVP, even if he does have as many minutes and as successful of a season," Dinsick said.
The Sixers finished last season with the NBA's third-best record at 54-28, just four games behind the league-best Milwaukee Bucks. A big part of Philadelphia's success, however, was an All-Star-caliber season from James Harden and it's unclear what -- if anything -- the Sixers will get from The Beard in 2023-24 as he seeks a trade out of Philly. If the Sixers get little to nothing from Harden, it would be surprising if they were able to keep pace with the likes of Boston, Milwaukee and other surefire contenders.
Of course, if a Harden-less Sixers squad was able to remain among the NBA elites thanks to Embiid, that would certainly be a strong argument in favor of his MVP case.
