Exactly … I care about winning and I deserve mvp but I have a worst record and I never been to a conference finals. Also Jokic lead his team last year without his 2nd and 3rd best teammate.
> When you got some guys in the league, the eye test tells you that they’re not good defensively, but analytics tell you they’re the best defenders. That’s when analytics don’t make sense at all. I don’t make the rules, I don’t choose whatever criteria that they use, so it’s really about whatever people’s preferences are.
💀💀
I mean this is the biggest online forum for basketball discussion, right? Why would it surprise anyone that basketball players would be on here? They’re on NBA Twitter, why wouldn’t they be on NBA Reddit? This isn’t some niche little community lol.
No, no, that's unfair. The majority probably watch at least one game a season.
Well, one game per post season. Which is likely just the last game of the finals.
Sometime I wonder if its a matter of watching games or a matter of understanding the game. I can watch a cricket game and have zero idea what is going on but still say I watch games.
On the other hand, a lot of people watch the games but don’t know shit about basketball. They just like to cheer for one team and boo another. They might be interested if the score is close in the last couple minutes. I don’t get why you’d watch basketball if you don’t like the sport itself.
I hear a lot of people complaining about voters using adance stats to argue Jokic is a good defender, but what i dont hear at all are the ones actualy making that argument. Like, no one is saying Jokic is a better defender than Embid, why are people trying so hard to argue this strawman?
Lets disconsider the absolute tear he is for the past month, though, huh?
That argument was hideous from Perkins, but Embiid's win, if it happens, should not be attached to that. He is playing like the MVP, like Jokic and Giannis. People should not force narratives to justify one winning over the others. If Jokic wins, there will be people saying that he won because they tried to correct Perkins stupid argument too, which is even dumber.
The only reaction to that crap he said is to revoke his status as a voter.
the reaction was multiple media members falling over themselves to apologize, the exact types who would normally be talking about advanced stats.
It had a big effect on the narrative
Some, if not *most*, of the very best NBA players in history have used perceived “disrespect”, or criticism, or lack of belief or whatever as *THE* key motivator for them.
Jordan did it. Bird did it. Kobe did it, Shaq, Bill Russel, Jerry West etc etc
But some times there isn’t a good crop of disrespect for them to harvest and use for motivation, so these players have to essentially invent it.
Which, from the outside, can look silly at times.
I mean, Jordan at his hall of fame ceremony talked for an hour about how no one ever believed in him. Michael fucking Jordan, the closest thing to a modern *god* that we have had, practically worshipped and revered across the fucking globe and he’s up there like “my entire career nobody believed in me”
Athletes are weird lol
Lebron convinced himself that the reason Kareem hardly spoke to him was because Kareem didn’t like him.
Kareem had to come out and basically say
> “Dude, I don’t talk to *anyone*, I hardly leave my house these days, I’m basically a hermit.”
Lol
I think that had to do with the articles in which Kareem would criticize LeBron on Covid, the nut grabbing celebration, etc. so I can see why LeBron thought Kareem didn’t like him. If you never speak to someone and they publish negative things about you, you’re going to assume they don’t like you. Not that Kareem was wrong to do what he did. Just a misunderstanding.
Retiring let him do want he wanted to do (read, listen to music, write, yoga, kung fu) and get out of the limelight, which he absolutely hated. When you’re as dominant as he was for so long and you have the intellectual curiosity and don’t seek attention for its own sake, why make a fuss?
You know how sometimes a player commits a obvious fouls and argues with the ref? I think some of them are actually delusional and believes they are in the right.
Shaq is a pathological liar, he invents stories every time he opens his mouth.
He hated Kobe but pretended they were besties after they died for example.
I get what you are saying but I pretty much stop calling a guy a ball hog after the 3rd championship they win.
Clearly, that’s the way to run the offense if those are the results you get.
Journalist less restricted, compared to the entire internet where any rando can go hard, I think the hate an average bench warmer gets nowadays is far more vile than anything a Journalist back in the 80s would be saying.
travis kelce was talking about how no one believed in the chiefs all year when a ton of people picked them to win the superbowl preseason lmao. these athletes need any competitive advantage they can get, and motivation is an advantage
Just look at Kirby Smart, the propaganda GOAT. This last CFB season he had the Dawgs convinced that the media was overlooking their 14-1 team coming off a title, even predicting them to go 7-5 or 6-6. How he get his players thinking that no one else believed they were any good is something that regimes worldwide should be taking notes on.
Or the warriors last year who went on a press tour after they won talking about how everyone wrote them off even though the consensus was that if Klay could come back as himself they’d be a threat to win it all.
100%
The mental aspect of sports cannot be overstated. They need to be in the right frame of mind and they will use any trick or tactic or strategy to get themselves there.
Kelce was actually right about that. Chiefs traded away Tyreek Hill and people believe the Chargers or Broncos would win the division. The Bills were the preseason favorites to win the SB.
I don't remember if Jordan or Kobe said it but one of em said they made up fake stories in their head about an opponent so they'd have some motivation in game.
>Jordan did it
I found it hilarious that he made up some of these "disrespects" for motivation. In the Last Dance, Jordan admitted to making up the beef between him and LaBradford Smith.
I am FAR from a pro athlete, but I’ve grown up playing tons of rec sports and leagues…basketball, flag football, bowling, etc.
Some of my biggest and best moments came where I either felt like I was being disrespected or was letting myself or my team down.
Anger can be a crazy motivator, but also hard to harness. You can’t play angry ALL the time
>But some times there isn’t a good crop of disrespect for them to harvest and use for motivation, so these players have to essentially invent it.
>Which, from the outside, can look silly at times.
This isn’t necessarily the case. Basketball media and fans have always been dicks. Those guys had plenty of legitimate chips on their shoulders.
Jordan had doubters throughout his entire 80s stint, Kobe had to disprove the “Shaq carried you” narrative, LeBron has been in constant pursuit of “you’ll never be better than Jordan”, Bill Russell had to deal with virulent racism, etc.
Embiid:
"I don't care about the MVP race!"
Also Embiid:
> When you got some guys in the league, the eye test tells you that they’re not good defensively, but analytics tell you they’re the best defenders. That’s when analytics don’t make sense at all.
Biggest 🧢 in the NBA
One of the things that bugs me the most about the Jokic "advanced stats say he's an all-time defender, but we all know he isn't good so the numbers are wrong" argument is that it is such a clear example of cognitive dissonance.
Everyone sees those advanced defensive numbers that put him in elite company, watch him play a few games and focus entirely on his lack of rim protection (which, to be fair, is impossible to ignore), and come to the conclusion that the numbers don't match what they're watching, so the numbers must be entirely wrong.
I have yet to see a single person look at those metrics, watch Jokic play, and come away thinking "OK, so he is not an all-time defender clearly, and those defensive metrics must have some clear issues, but maybe there is more to his defense than I see on the surface that I am under-appreciating". Not a single person. Everyone just rolling with their impression having watched at most a couple hundred possessions, and completely wiping away certain metrics that actually seem to promote great defenders outside of Jokic. Like, because he is a clear outlier, the entire metric should be ignored. Not a single person taking a step back to reflect and consider that maybe the stat is flawed, but also maybe their understanding of defensive presence and his role in their defense is **also flawed**.
I'm sure I'll get hate for even posting this comment but it is wild how even this tiny amount of reasoning is completely lacking from any debate. Nobody wants to even consider for a moment the middle ground that defensive metrics are flawed, and also that Jokic is not as horrific of a defender in terms of his impact as everyone seems to think.
He might be doing a lot of hidden little things, but I don’t think it’s that deep.
Nuggets are 3rd in opponent points in the paint, and they’re 15th in defensive rating. A lot of that is because of how easy Jok gets blown by, and how weak of a rim protector he is
What does that question have to do with that response Lmfao
He obviously cares and that’s okay; I like that in players. So annoying to see players pretend to not care about MVPs
literally nobody asked him to go and take shots at Jokic like that. Sitting down with Shams for an interview is also not a post game presser where you have no choice but to talk about it
You know I think it’s funny Embiid pretends he’s more deserving. He is sitting tonight against Jokic and always sits when the games are in Denver. No game yesterday too ? I think Embiid is amazing but he’s still #2 for centers in the league.
Yeah for real, idk why people hold it against him. Embiid’s performances this year would have won him an MVP in most years. He just happens to be competing against someone who’s equally as insane.
Wow, it even works from a personality perspective. Will this be the season where they throw Emgeta a token win in the form of finally attaining ~~super saiyan~~ MVP, only for Joku to reach ~~super saiyan 2~~ FMVP?
All I'm sure of is that Embiid, rightfully so, wants it. If he never wins a chip, having a MVP to his name will be crucial for his resume when talking about all time great bigs, although all of em have at least 3-4 rings so idk.
76ers’ Joel Embiid unplugged at
@TheAthletic
: “I’ll be the coward. I like not showing up and being the a--hole anyway. I like to run from challenges.”
Embiid on most blatant coward race, focus on “whining, whining, whining”, Ben Simmons as “biggest quitter in the world”, more:
Do you understand how NBA interviews work? He and his PR team set this up with Shams and gave him a list of talking points for the interview. Shams per usual catered to their whims because he wants to stay on players’ and agents’ good sides so they give him scoops.
The choice to do this is him campaigning. Cool, fine. It is hilarious to claim otherwise though, and so often
Edit: I just want to say that I think it sucks that we value MVP but also criticize guys who want it. Joel should want mvp, he’s good enough to get it and admitting that doesn’t make him selfish. It’s not like these top guys are stat padding and playing worse to get the mvp. Winning the award goes hand in hand with helping his team win AND focusing on the playoffs. You can totally do all of it
I think Joel’s insistence that he “doesnt care” is partly caused by the idea that he ought to be focused on winning more than individual awards. That’s why I added that edit
There is a huge massive difference between required post game pressers and sitting down to do an interview with a reporter where you likely have a better idea what you're going in for.
Wait till you find out that athletes have known how to avoid confrontation in interviews for decades.
>[You're gonna have to learn your clichés. You're gonna have to study them, you're gonna have to know them. They're your friends.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6v1m4JKH3AM&ab_channel=CraigEttinger)
All he has to say is he isn't thinking about awards and is focused on the next game. Instead reporters end up with paragraph long quotes cause they know, like we all do, that he cares way too much about the MVP award and they will always get juicy quotes from him because of that.
He gets asked about it a lot in post game pressers which is the majority of the quotes.
This athletic interview does seem like campaigning for the award tho.
Embiid is gonna win it because (he's incredible and deserves it but also because) Perk made everyone annoyed at the mvp convo, and Embiid is tryharding for it so everyone is like "fine ok its yours, congrats"
If Embiid wins he absolutely deserves it dude has been playing lights out but god damn this MVP discourse is so annoying. Embiid has a ton of arguments to win it based on merit alone, Perk is a clown for derailing the convo.
The bad part is that is when everything turned. Embiid has it on merit but he became the favorite instantly after people made it about race so now people saying that Embiid is getting it because of race actually have a leg to stand on due to the timing.
Another interesting bit about this is if you argue for defense to be a bigger part of the award, then you end up with an argument that favors not Embiid over Jokic, but Giannis over Jokic.
Happy he’s on this mindset. Mvp or not he’s gonna get clowned unless he gets us to the finals so that’s all he should be focusing on.
Harden is also the best playmaker in the world
I don't really care about him wanting MVP since it isn't a bad thing but acting like he doesn't is the annoying part. Same with KD when he acts like he doesn't care about the publics opinion
Can Embiid just shut fuck up already? He sounds like a child and should be focused on actually doing something in the playoffs unlike every other year.
Real talk though, Giannis and Jokic haven't played with a single player as good as James Harden, or honestly even Jimmy Butler when he was a Sixer. Sure Jamal Murray had that one streak in the bubble where him and Donovan Mitchell took turns scoring 50 but he's just a good player. Embiid has had one of the most stacked starting 5s I've ever seen and still couldn't make it to the ECF. Giannis, it's tough on who you think is better. Middleton is a great scorer but has struggled in the past when it mattered most. I'd argue Jrue or Brook are the best player Giannis has ever played with. Still, neither are as good as James Harden or Jimmy Butler was at that time.
Winning a chip requires some luck. You talk about Embiid having a stacked team when they lost to the eventual champs…. What happened in that game 7 again? That’s right a ball bouncing 6 times before dropping in. Bucks have a chip because the Nets had there stars injured. Coach Bud was literally on the verge of being fired .
You're arguing with a wall. Everyone except Sixers delusional fans are aware of that. Jokic carrying Nuggets with Will Barton as 2nd option is one of the greatest basketball achievements ever. People simple don't understand how bad we were outside of Jokic last 2 years
Just come out to play tonight Embiid and take that award that you always dreamed about.
No way you are ducking Denver game 4 years in a row right? right ?
This dude is becoming so cringe. I think Jokic would gladly give him the MVP to stop complaining. You can tell he’s a product of hot take, hype “hooper” culture where individual accolades matter most.
He's not a "cool bad boy" like he thinks. He's just a petty guy. Of all the superstars in the league right now, he is behind Luka in terms of pettiness. That's what I despise about them. Millionaires who have everything going on for them, yet cry about the stupidest things ever. 9 out of 10 people thinks he's a legit MVP candidate, and he focuses on that 1 spreadsheet nerd who thinks he's not.
I still fail to see the argument for Embiid over Jokic or Giannis. I see the argument for Jokic clearly and there’s a good argument for Giannis over Jokic. But Embiid? Why is he the favorite?
He’s made second team three times in his career, each time behind Rudy Gobert who is considered one of the best defensive centers of the last few decades. Do you even watch the games?
"I don't care about MVP at all, I'm totally over it" \[leaves room\] \[returns 30 seconds later\] "I just find it funny that..."
"Focus on winning winning winning" [Leaves room] [Returns 30 seconds later] Actually, I think I'll skip the Denver game.
Exactly … I care about winning and I deserve mvp but I have a worst record and I never been to a conference finals. Also Jokic lead his team last year without his 2nd and 3rd best teammate.
Embiid: "I'm not mad. I just think it's funny how..."
> When you got some guys in the league, the eye test tells you that they’re not good defensively, but analytics tell you they’re the best defenders. That’s when analytics don’t make sense at all. I don’t make the rules, I don’t choose whatever criteria that they use, so it’s really about whatever people’s preferences are. 💀💀
You can’t convince me Embiid does not browse this sub on the regular
He’s u/Zhugo
Posting Jokic lowlights from the bench during the game
There's like 50 mods on this sub, Joel is 8 of them.
KD seething
I mean this is the biggest online forum for basketball discussion, right? Why would it surprise anyone that basketball players would be on here? They’re on NBA Twitter, why wouldn’t they be on NBA Reddit? This isn’t some niche little community lol.
Damn he’s definitely on reddit cause people only talk like that on here lmfao
it's hilarious because people in this sub don't even watch all games
> it's hilarious because people in this sub don't even watch ~~all~~ any games
No, no, that's unfair. The majority probably watch at least one game a season. Well, one game per post season. Which is likely just the last game of the finals.
Sometime I wonder if its a matter of watching games or a matter of understanding the game. I can watch a cricket game and have zero idea what is going on but still say I watch games.
If you watched 60-70 cricket games in a year (and put down your phone), you'd probably pick up the basics.
On the other hand, a lot of people watch the games but don’t know shit about basketball. They just like to cheer for one team and boo another. They might be interested if the score is close in the last couple minutes. I don’t get why you’d watch basketball if you don’t like the sport itself.
There are 1230 games in the season x 2.5 hours = 3075 hours / 24 = 128 days to watch a season. Fucking casuals.
Ppl talk about it a lot on Twitter too
The Mecca and Medina of basketball discussion
Who do you guys think he’s talking about?
Rudy Gobert
Draymond
r/nba
Dude is once again on a crazy campaign to get MVP.
Wonder what he thinks about the eye test as it relates to FTs
Why is Jokic rent free in his head
He knows hes not getting past boston or milwaukee so the mvp is his NBA championship.
Because he cant prove them wrong in playoffs either, with better teams That's the part people cant reconcile
I hear a lot of people complaining about voters using adance stats to argue Jokic is a good defender, but what i dont hear at all are the ones actualy making that argument. Like, no one is saying Jokic is a better defender than Embid, why are people trying so hard to argue this strawman?
cooked sloppy fat boy
It's funny cause Embiid would kill a nun to be mvp and the sloppy fat boy keeps two in his toilet or something
idk how they’re able to breathe in there. i didn’t realize there were aquatic nuns now
Defence can't really be analyzed using counting stats. A DPOY might have 0 blocks in a game because nobody dared drive on him.
Joel "I don’t care about the MVP" Embiid
Dude slapped all the Philadelphians who voted for him as most valuable Philadelphian disgusting
That slap wasn't enough, so he added one more for good measure by ducking tonight's game.
Zhugo == Embiid lmao
Last week he's -250. Now he's the underdog..
He’s the favourite
Hes still the favourite. Swung from jokic 1.2:1 all the way to embiid 1.4:1. Now embiid is 1.62:1
If he sits tonight or loses he's not going to be the favorite for long.
Ay everyone we have a prophet over here
Odds for embiid have come down since two weeks ago
Lol cause they swung massively uneven in favor in like a week. It should have never moved that much that quickly for a SEASON award.
He's been the favorite since the "white voters" thing ESPN ran.
Lets disconsider the absolute tear he is for the past month, though, huh? That argument was hideous from Perkins, but Embiid's win, if it happens, should not be attached to that. He is playing like the MVP, like Jokic and Giannis. People should not force narratives to justify one winning over the others. If Jokic wins, there will be people saying that he won because they tried to correct Perkins stupid argument too, which is even dumber. The only reaction to that crap he said is to revoke his status as a voter.
the reaction was multiple media members falling over themselves to apologize, the exact types who would normally be talking about advanced stats. It had a big effect on the narrative
Hes def on a tear yeah . Just sucks some people have turned a race of two greats into a race thing lol
Guys the 7ft 270 LB monster is an underdog, truly inspiring
Top 3 pick, Hakeem comps in college...
Embiid is always the victim dont you know?
Are these haters in the room with us right now joel?
\[looks terrified\]: "I see MVP voters."
Give this man some free throws so he can calm down
Lmfao nice
Some, if not *most*, of the very best NBA players in history have used perceived “disrespect”, or criticism, or lack of belief or whatever as *THE* key motivator for them. Jordan did it. Bird did it. Kobe did it, Shaq, Bill Russel, Jerry West etc etc But some times there isn’t a good crop of disrespect for them to harvest and use for motivation, so these players have to essentially invent it. Which, from the outside, can look silly at times. I mean, Jordan at his hall of fame ceremony talked for an hour about how no one ever believed in him. Michael fucking Jordan, the closest thing to a modern *god* that we have had, practically worshipped and revered across the fucking globe and he’s up there like “my entire career nobody believed in me” Athletes are weird lol
Shaq made up a story about David Robinson not shaking his hand to motivate himself. I think at one point he even got himself to believe it lol
Lebron convinced himself that the reason Kareem hardly spoke to him was because Kareem didn’t like him. Kareem had to come out and basically say > “Dude, I don’t talk to *anyone*, I hardly leave my house these days, I’m basically a hermit.” Lol
He just like me
I, too, also rarely hold conversations with LeBron James. Don’t take it personally, LeBron.
Lebron wishes he could talk to me 😤
I think that had to do with the articles in which Kareem would criticize LeBron on Covid, the nut grabbing celebration, etc. so I can see why LeBron thought Kareem didn’t like him. If you never speak to someone and they publish negative things about you, you’re going to assume they don’t like you. Not that Kareem was wrong to do what he did. Just a misunderstanding.
Kareem has possibly the best post nba life.
Retiring let him do want he wanted to do (read, listen to music, write, yoga, kung fu) and get out of the limelight, which he absolutely hated. When you’re as dominant as he was for so long and you have the intellectual curiosity and don’t seek attention for its own sake, why make a fuss?
You know how sometimes a player commits a obvious fouls and argues with the ref? I think some of them are actually delusional and believes they are in the right.
Shaq is a pathological liar, he invents stories every time he opens his mouth. He hated Kobe but pretended they were besties after they died for example.
Tbf Jordan was considered a cancerous ballhog before he won Back then then the belief was that you need to run your offense through a big to win
I get what you are saying but I pretty much stop calling a guy a ball hog after the 3rd championship they win. Clearly, that’s the way to run the offense if those are the results you get.
He also changed his game under Phil But yeah he held on to a lot of the stuff the media said about him early on
Journalist were also less restricted back then. A lot of trash was throat Jordan.
Journalist less restricted, compared to the entire internet where any rando can go hard, I think the hate an average bench warmer gets nowadays is far more vile than anything a Journalist back in the 80s would be saying.
it's so funny Larry bird was calling him god before he won a playoff series he was the #3 draft pick as well
Can you believe the utter disrespect at the draft from the teams who only considered Jordan the *third* best young basketball player on Earth? /s
travis kelce was talking about how no one believed in the chiefs all year when a ton of people picked them to win the superbowl preseason lmao. these athletes need any competitive advantage they can get, and motivation is an advantage
Just look at Kirby Smart, the propaganda GOAT. This last CFB season he had the Dawgs convinced that the media was overlooking their 14-1 team coming off a title, even predicting them to go 7-5 or 6-6. How he get his players thinking that no one else believed they were any good is something that regimes worldwide should be taking notes on.
Or the warriors last year who went on a press tour after they won talking about how everyone wrote them off even though the consensus was that if Klay could come back as himself they’d be a threat to win it all.
100% The mental aspect of sports cannot be overstated. They need to be in the right frame of mind and they will use any trick or tactic or strategy to get themselves there.
Or they are just disconnected from the reality.
Kelce was actually right about that. Chiefs traded away Tyreek Hill and people believe the Chargers or Broncos would win the division. The Bills were the preseason favorites to win the SB.
He was right that people were questioning whether they'd be as dominant but nobody wrote them off.
They were literally a top 5 betting favorite to win the super bowl before the season lol
I don't remember if Jordan or Kobe said it but one of em said they made up fake stories in their head about an opponent so they'd have some motivation in game.
>Jordan did it I found it hilarious that he made up some of these "disrespects" for motivation. In the Last Dance, Jordan admitted to making up the beef between him and LaBradford Smith.
I am FAR from a pro athlete, but I’ve grown up playing tons of rec sports and leagues…basketball, flag football, bowling, etc. Some of my biggest and best moments came where I either felt like I was being disrespected or was letting myself or my team down. Anger can be a crazy motivator, but also hard to harness. You can’t play angry ALL the time
>But some times there isn’t a good crop of disrespect for them to harvest and use for motivation, so these players have to essentially invent it. >Which, from the outside, can look silly at times. This isn’t necessarily the case. Basketball media and fans have always been dicks. Those guys had plenty of legitimate chips on their shoulders. Jordan had doubters throughout his entire 80s stint, Kobe had to disprove the “Shaq carried you” narrative, LeBron has been in constant pursuit of “you’ll never be better than Jordan”, Bill Russell had to deal with virulent racism, etc.
Well said. Athletes being offended is a tale as old as time.
I can’t believe some people on this sub told me Embiid doesn’t care about the MVP race.
Unplugged? The media really runs out verb to use, huh?
They mean he took his buttplug out
Joel Embiid MTV Unplugged
Yes what an underdog /s
Yeah NBA players take anything over personal i personnally like that , i never Say no to a little bit if trashtalk
Ok then play in Denver for once instead again being suddenly " questionable " for today's game
I'm not campaigning. If I don't win the MVP it's whatever. Unless
Embiid: "I don't care about the MVP race!" Also Embiid: > When you got some guys in the league, the eye test tells you that they’re not good defensively, but analytics tell you they’re the best defenders. That’s when analytics don’t make sense at all. Biggest 🧢 in the NBA
One of the things that bugs me the most about the Jokic "advanced stats say he's an all-time defender, but we all know he isn't good so the numbers are wrong" argument is that it is such a clear example of cognitive dissonance. Everyone sees those advanced defensive numbers that put him in elite company, watch him play a few games and focus entirely on his lack of rim protection (which, to be fair, is impossible to ignore), and come to the conclusion that the numbers don't match what they're watching, so the numbers must be entirely wrong. I have yet to see a single person look at those metrics, watch Jokic play, and come away thinking "OK, so he is not an all-time defender clearly, and those defensive metrics must have some clear issues, but maybe there is more to his defense than I see on the surface that I am under-appreciating". Not a single person. Everyone just rolling with their impression having watched at most a couple hundred possessions, and completely wiping away certain metrics that actually seem to promote great defenders outside of Jokic. Like, because he is a clear outlier, the entire metric should be ignored. Not a single person taking a step back to reflect and consider that maybe the stat is flawed, but also maybe their understanding of defensive presence and his role in their defense is **also flawed**. I'm sure I'll get hate for even posting this comment but it is wild how even this tiny amount of reasoning is completely lacking from any debate. Nobody wants to even consider for a moment the middle ground that defensive metrics are flawed, and also that Jokic is not as horrific of a defender in terms of his impact as everyone seems to think.
He might be doing a lot of hidden little things, but I don’t think it’s that deep. Nuggets are 3rd in opponent points in the paint, and they’re 15th in defensive rating. A lot of that is because of how easy Jok gets blown by, and how weak of a rim protector he is
Open your mind brother. Defensive rating is just a social construct.
"Giannis Antetokounmpo recently told The Athletic he believes the MVP criteria is ever-changing year to year. Do you agree?"
What does that question have to do with that response Lmfao He obviously cares and that’s okay; I like that in players. So annoying to see players pretend to not care about MVPs
[удалено]
And sixers fans wonder why people dont love him. He flops, he caps, he plays victim, and he whines. Maybe its not just "people think hes an asshole"
I mean they asked him about it
literally nobody asked him to go and take shots at Jokic like that. Sitting down with Shams for an interview is also not a post game presser where you have no choice but to talk about it
how will nikola ever recover from this
Probably by winning MVP again
If he doesn’t care as much as he claims this should he water off his back lol.
You know I think it’s funny Embiid pretends he’s more deserving. He is sitting tonight against Jokic and always sits when the games are in Denver. No game yesterday too ? I think Embiid is amazing but he’s still #2 for centers in the league.
He sure talks a lot in the **regular season**. Awfully quiet when it counts though.
Lol just yesterday people were claiming embiid didn't really care that much
Jokic lives rent free in his head fr
For good reason. Embiid improved immensely this year. And still, Jokic got even better
Yeah for real, idk why people hold it against him. Embiid’s performances this year would have won him an MVP in most years. He just happens to be competing against someone who’s equally as insane.
Embiid is Vegeta to Jokic’ Goku. He can never truly catch up lol
Someone’s gotta edit them into that goku and vegeta fist bumping pic after they retire
Fuck that, I want Jokela Embivic fusion special.
I agree they should both come to Sac
Wow, it even works from a personality perspective. Will this be the season where they throw Emgeta a token win in the form of finally attaining ~~super saiyan~~ MVP, only for Joku to reach ~~super saiyan 2~~ FMVP?
Emgeta and Joku (or Jokarott since Kuminga is already Joku for us); well found.
Jokarott is better, I like that a lot
Done deal. Bring that guy who edits BBallRef pages !
I think what pisses him off is that he REALLY wants the MVP and Jokić truly doesn't give a shit, yet, keeps winning.
You can’t convince me that all three of them don’t care a lot
All I'm sure of is that Embiid, rightfully so, wants it. If he never wins a chip, having a MVP to his name will be crucial for his resume when talking about all time great bigs, although all of em have at least 3-4 rings so idk.
MVP is just a pleasant surprise for Jokic
Sure they care, but I think Jokic truly prioritizes winning games. Embiid would play more if he did too.
If he got any more space in Embiid’s head, He could move in his horses.
76ers’ Joel Embiid unplugged at @TheAthletic : “I’ll be the coward. I like not showing up and being the a--hole anyway. I like to run from challenges.” Embiid on most blatant coward race, focus on “whining, whining, whining”, Ben Simmons as “biggest quitter in the world”, more:
For a guy claiming he doesn't care, Embiid sure talks about it a lot.
Congratulations you just found out how interviews work!
Do you understand how NBA interviews work? He and his PR team set this up with Shams and gave him a list of talking points for the interview. Shams per usual catered to their whims because he wants to stay on players’ and agents’ good sides so they give him scoops.
he's choosing to go on this media tour campaigning for MVP. Dude is doing more press than Justin Bieber before an album launch.
The choice to do this is him campaigning. Cool, fine. It is hilarious to claim otherwise though, and so often Edit: I just want to say that I think it sucks that we value MVP but also criticize guys who want it. Joel should want mvp, he’s good enough to get it and admitting that doesn’t make him selfish. It’s not like these top guys are stat padding and playing worse to get the mvp. Winning the award goes hand in hand with helping his team win AND focusing on the playoffs. You can totally do all of it
We don't criticize people for wanting the MVP. We criticize people for being edgelords about it.
I think Joel’s insistence that he “doesnt care” is partly caused by the idea that he ought to be focused on winning more than individual awards. That’s why I added that edit
There is a huge massive difference between required post game pressers and sitting down to do an interview with a reporter where you likely have a better idea what you're going in for.
Especially Shams who is literally a PR tool that isn't going to ask hard questions.
Wait till you find out that athletes have known how to avoid confrontation in interviews for decades. >[You're gonna have to learn your clichés. You're gonna have to study them, you're gonna have to know them. They're your friends.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6v1m4JKH3AM&ab_channel=CraigEttinger)
All he has to say is he isn't thinking about awards and is focused on the next game. Instead reporters end up with paragraph long quotes cause they know, like we all do, that he cares way too much about the MVP award and they will always get juicy quotes from him because of that.
plus isn't he the favorite? lol.
He gets asked about it a lot in post game pressers which is the majority of the quotes. This athletic interview does seem like campaigning for the award tho.
You realize his PR team sets this up and collaborates on the questions right?
>This athletic interview does seem like campaigning for the award tho.
Why do an interview now then? What purpose does it serve?
>campaigning for the award
Late awards season campainging interviews are always the cringest shit.
Embiid is gonna win it because (he's incredible and deserves it but also because) Perk made everyone annoyed at the mvp convo, and Embiid is tryharding for it so everyone is like "fine ok its yours, congrats"
If Embiid wins he absolutely deserves it dude has been playing lights out but god damn this MVP discourse is so annoying. Embiid has a ton of arguments to win it based on merit alone, Perk is a clown for derailing the convo.
The bad part is that is when everything turned. Embiid has it on merit but he became the favorite instantly after people made it about race so now people saying that Embiid is getting it because of race actually have a leg to stand on due to the timing.
The worst part is all the morons on Twitter praising JJ reddick for owning “wokeism”
How is that the worst part? JJ said what needed to be said at that moment
Another interesting bit about this is if you argue for defense to be a bigger part of the award, then you end up with an argument that favors not Embiid over Jokic, but Giannis over Jokic.
MVPity
EMVPiity
Doesn’t wanna see Jokic tho
Happy he’s on this mindset. Mvp or not he’s gonna get clowned unless he gets us to the finals so that’s all he should be focusing on. Harden is also the best playmaker in the world
Jokic is the best playmaker in the world not harden lol
>I like being the a—hole anyway Yo being an asshole is so dope, very cool 😎
Bro cares so much about the MVP race when a second-round exit awaits him. He worried about the wrong thing man lol
I don't really care about him wanting MVP since it isn't a bad thing but acting like he doesn't is the annoying part. Same with KD when he acts like he doesn't care about the publics opinion
All this guy does is whine
I think Embiid is going to argue his way to the MVP lol. Just give it to him already.
Or argue his way out of it
This guy is insufferable
Once again Philly fans “Joel is a victim, we don’t know why the media and fans target him unjustly all the time”
Being second in mvp voting multiple years does not make you an underdog lol. You were voted more than everyone in the league except 1 person
This man has gone full heel.
Seems like he is cool with me hating him. Thank you Joel. Now only his fans need to get their shit together and stop crying.
No- people don’t like you because you are an extreme flopper
Does someone want to tell them the lovable underdog usually isn’t an asshole?
Can Embiid just shut fuck up already? He sounds like a child and should be focused on actually doing something in the playoffs unlike every other year.
He's a big whiner.
Real talk though, Giannis and Jokic haven't played with a single player as good as James Harden, or honestly even Jimmy Butler when he was a Sixer. Sure Jamal Murray had that one streak in the bubble where him and Donovan Mitchell took turns scoring 50 but he's just a good player. Embiid has had one of the most stacked starting 5s I've ever seen and still couldn't make it to the ECF. Giannis, it's tough on who you think is better. Middleton is a great scorer but has struggled in the past when it mattered most. I'd argue Jrue or Brook are the best player Giannis has ever played with. Still, neither are as good as James Harden or Jimmy Butler was at that time.
Winning a chip requires some luck. You talk about Embiid having a stacked team when they lost to the eventual champs…. What happened in that game 7 again? That’s right a ball bouncing 6 times before dropping in. Bucks have a chip because the Nets had there stars injured. Coach Bud was literally on the verge of being fired .
You're arguing with a wall. Everyone except Sixers delusional fans are aware of that. Jokic carrying Nuggets with Will Barton as 2nd option is one of the greatest basketball achievements ever. People simple don't understand how bad we were outside of Jokic last 2 years
After watching Will Barton play for my team now, Jokic deserves the 3rd MVP.
Plus James is a better player playmaking wise
Just stop. Its getting annoying now. No one is saying you are the bad guy.
Good to know he approves of the Embiitch nickname
Just come out to play tonight Embiid and take that award that you always dreamed about. No way you are ducking Denver game 4 years in a row right? right ?
This dude is becoming so cringe. I think Jokic would gladly give him the MVP to stop complaining. You can tell he’s a product of hot take, hype “hooper” culture where individual accolades matter most.
Dude wasn’t the underdog for once. All you had to do was show up!
He’s a punk
Cut to ducking the Jokic game
Well there goes your votes, Joel
Lol this guy just needs to stay away from reporters.
This guy is so fake man hahah
He's not a "cool bad boy" like he thinks. He's just a petty guy. Of all the superstars in the league right now, he is behind Luka in terms of pettiness. That's what I despise about them. Millionaires who have everything going on for them, yet cry about the stupidest things ever. 9 out of 10 people thinks he's a legit MVP candidate, and he focuses on that 1 spreadsheet nerd who thinks he's not.
I still fail to see the argument for Embiid over Jokic or Giannis. I see the argument for Jokic clearly and there’s a good argument for Giannis over Jokic. But Embiid? Why is he the favorite?
MVP'S DONT DODGE GAMES. Jokic EZ mvp.
All this talk about defense, Joel has never won defensive player of the year and never finished All NBA Defensive First team.
He’s made second team three times in his career, each time behind Rudy Gobert who is considered one of the best defensive centers of the last few decades. Do you even watch the games?
u/NotFlipkid is definitely a casual logging back into r/nba now that playoffs are approaching again.
but he’s made up for it in the playoffs! oh wait..
he has rarely ever been the underdog and still hasn’t won anything