The National Basketball Association (NBA) has announced that Joel Embiid, the center for the Philadelphia 76ers, has been named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the 2020-21 NBA season. Embiid received 91 first-place votes out of a possible 100 from a global panel of sports writers and broadcasters, beating out other top contenders such as Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets and Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors.
Embiid played in 51 of the 72 regular season games for the 76ers, averaging 28.5 points, 10.6 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game. He also had a career-high 50-point game in March and led the 76ers to the number one seed in the Eastern Conference for the first time since 2001. However, Embiid’s season was cut short in the playoffs due to a meniscus tear in his right knee, which required surgery.
Embiid is the first 76er to win the MVP award since Allen Iverson in 2001 and is the first center to win it since Shaquille O’Neal in 2000. The 76ers will face the Atlanta Hawks in the second round of the NBA playoffs, with Embiid expected to return to the lineup after missing the last few games of the first round series.
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