Cameroonian basketball hero Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers) was selected as the MVP of the regular league in the 2022-23 season.
The NBA Secretariat announced on the 3rd (Korean time), “As a result of the media panel voting, Embiid received 73 out of 100 first-place votes, earning a total of 915 points and becoming the regular league MVP.” Second place went to Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets), who received 674 points, including 15 first place votes.
It is the first time in 7 seasons since his debut that Embiid won the regular league MVP. Embiid, who wore a Philadelphia uniform with the third overall pick in the 2014 rookie draft, debuted in the 2016-17 season after missing two entire seasons due to injury, and later built a career such as six All-Stars and two scoring champions. In particular, in the MVP voting for the last two years in a row, he finished second behind Yokichi, but he pushed Jokichi out and stood tall as the best player in the NBA. It is the first time in 22 years since Allen Iverson in 2001 that a Philadelphia player has become the regular league MVP.먹튀검증
Embiid played 66 regular league games in the 2022-23 season, averaging 33.1 points (1st), 10.2 rebounds (10th) and 4.2 assists (51st) per game. Philadelphia, which entered the playoffs in third place in the Eastern Conference (54-28), advanced to the second round by winning four straight wins over the Brooklyn Nets in the first round. In the second round against the Boston Celtics, he suffered a loss first. Embiid has been sidelined since Game 4 against Brooklyn with an injury.
With Embiid’s award, the NBA regular league MVP became the first non-American player to win five consecutive years. In 2019 and 2020, Yanis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks) of Greek nationality became the regular league MVP, and in the last two years, Jokic of Serbian nationality won the award. Born in Yaounde, Cameroon, in 1994, Embiid obtained US and French citizenship last year.
Embiid is the ninth non-American to become the NBA regular league MVP. Second in history from Africa. In 1994, Hakeem Olajuwon (Nigeria) became the first non-American to become the regular league MVP. In Olajuwon’s case, he did acquire US nationality to compete in the 1993 Olympics, prior to winning the MVP award. Since then, Steve Nash (Canada) in 2005 and 2006 and Dirk Nowitzki (Germany) in 2007 have been named MVP of the regular season.
Non-American players are active in the NBA, with Jokic, Embiid, and Antetokounmpo all non-American players nominated for MVP last year and this year. The most recent American player to win the regular league MVP was James Harden (Philadelphia) in 2018.
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