Philadelphia 76ers: Joel Embiid comes up short to Nikola Jokic again

Despite being the NBA’s scoring champion, one of its most marketable stars, and the only reason why the Philadelphia 76ers made it to the second round of the playoffs, Joel Embiid ultimately came up short to Nikola Jokic in his tireless pursuit of the MVP award, finishing second in votes and total points.

So, by that logic, that means Embiid was the NBA’s second-best player over the 2021-22 regular season, right? I mean, he did earn more votes than Devin Booker, Luka Doncic, Jayson Tatum, Giannis Antetokounmpo, etc. from the voting body, right? Even if he didn’t come away with the ultimate prize, he still has to be considered one of the association’s premier players, right?

Undoubtedly, but you wouldn’t know it from the All-NBA lists.

No, with the context removed, as time has a tendency to do, Joel Embiid’s best professional season will forever be capped off with a spot on the All-NBA’s second-team, sandwiched between Nikola Jokic and Karl-Anthony Towns as the second-best center the association has to offer. For fans of the Philadelphia 76ers, that’s a real bummer.

Until the rules change, this will keep happening to the Philadelphia 76ers’ center.

Once upon a time, the NBA All-Star game featured two guards, two forwards, and a center. For the longest time, this configuration worked out fine, but in the late-2000s to early 2010s, as the NBA game moved from a post-dominant game to a perimeter-focused one, the association opted to remove the center position from the All-Star ballot in 2012, instead allowing voters to simply pick two backcourt players and three frontcourt performers.

Why did the NBA do that? Well, because players like Chris Kaman and Andrew Bynum were earning choice spots on the All-Star team over more deserving players, and that started to rub folks the wrong way.

But wait, would removing the designated center spot suddenly turn the All-Star game into a glorified display of guards and forwards? Hardly; Dwight Howard and Kevin Garnett started at center in 2013, with “Superman” earning more votes than Blake Griffen, and six more centers; Chris Bosh, Tyson Chandler, Joakim Noah, Brook Lopez, David Lee, and Tim Duncan were all named to the game.

Could changing the All-NBA position groupings to two guards and three frontcourt players potentially result in years where there are two centers on the first-team and none on the second-team? You bet, but if that’s how the cookies crumble, why is that a problem? Better to have two centers split over the All-NBA’s three teams than give an undeserving spot to a player like KAT when Zach LaVine had an arguably better season.

*sigh* such is the plight of a Sixers fan, even one who plays for the team.

At this point in his career, Joel Embiid is breathing rarified air. He’s a five-time All-Star starter, a four-time All-NBA second-teamer, a three-time All-Defensive player, a one-time scoring champion, and would probably end up in the Hall of Fame even if he hung up his Under Armour’s once and for all tomorrow. While fans of the Philadelphia 76ers love their franchise player like only the City of Brotherly Love can, let’s hope folks outside of our fair city start to appreciate what he puts on the court night in and night out, as he won’t be playing at this level forever.