At least Deion Sanders still had a chance to go to bed on time.
When it was announced that Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers would miss another showdown with Nikola Jokić of the Denver Nuggets on Saturday afternoon because Embiid was sidelined with left knee soreness just minutes before the game began, it extended his streak of missing games the Mile High City, which began in 2019. It also recalled the moment when Sanders, the University of Colorado football coach and NFL legend Embiid had challenged, the reigning NBA MVP, during their training camp dinner in Colorado nearly three months earlier. Once again, we all witnessed exactly the kind of development that so many basketball fans had hoped would never happen again.
Once again, Embiid's health stood in the way of greatness this league has rarely seen.
As time has passed, the debate over this season's MVP award has become even more interesting as the Sixers star is just six missed games away from being disqualified for postseason awards due to the league's new player participation policy requires at least 65 games played. Sixers have 38 games left). For the Sixers' purposes, it appears to be first-year coach Nick Nurse Preseason plan to force Embiid to face Jokić directly in his 5,280-foot-tall home has failed – at least for now – although the big men competed in a game in Philadelphia last week on TNT. Embiid prevailed in that match, finishing with 41 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds in the 126-121 win, while Jokić had 25 points, 19 rebounds and three assists. Considering how Sanders framed this controversial conversation, the only saving grace in this latest potential face-off was that Sanders hadn't lost any sleep due to the afternoon tipping time.
“When we came up, MJ (Michael Jordan) wanted that smoke,” Sanders had said that night with the Sixers in Colorado, reflecting on his NFL career as a standout star. “He didn’t duck whoever this guy was. He would get it. This is the era I invented. Now, this leading man isn't guarding the leading man. He does not want it. He fears that he will make a mistake. And I understand that. But it’s a little different.”
While Embiid sat in the middle of the table directly in front of Sanders, he continued.
“I have Jerry (Rice),” he said. “Do not worry about it. I got this. I got Mike (Irvin). So it's a little different. Today things are a little different. A lot of people are dodging that smoke right now. You want to be Tarzan on paper. Don't sell me the game and (say) this is what I'm going to get, but when I turn on the TV I don't understand it. I don't like that. Give me that.
“If Embiid plays the Joker, I want to see Embiid against the Joker, okay? I want to see that. And he goes and gets it, right? I love it. I love the matchup, but I want to see it. That's what I want to see. That's why I stayed upstairs. I want to see that. I didn't stay up so no one else could be in Joker. I do not have time for that. I turn to BET and watch the BET Awards.”
Unfortunately for Sanders, the BET Awards aren't until June.
So I ask my colleagues Sam Vecenie and Mike Vorkunov: Nuggets fans have rubbed salt in this wound by chanting “Where’s Embiid?” How do we view this situation during Denver's 111-105 win on Saturday? On the one hand, Embiid's health status could prove to be completely legitimate. After all, he missed three games at the beginning of January with this same illness.
On the other hand – and this is the part the NBA will likely deal with – he was not listed on the Sixers' injury report before the game began, and the organization could be subject to league discipline as a result. At the very least, it is fair to acknowledge that this was a heavyweight boxing match in which one fighter did not show up. There was a shock factor due to the timing, as the news broke just minutes before tip-off began. And considering that Embiid and Jokić are both on the shortlist of MVP candidates this season, there are likely to be consequences in that regard as well.
Vecenie: The point about the league office is important here, Sam. This type of absence is exactly the kind the NBA is trying to eliminate from the game this season by enforcing its player participation policy. This was a nationally televised game. The league has also clearly stated that there must be a balance between missed away and home games, with a stated preference to miss more home games than away games. So far, nine of the 11 games Embiid has missed this season have been away from home.
If I were a Denver fan who had bought tickets to this heavyweight showdown between the league's two best players for the last three regular seasons, I would be extremely frustrated. It would be one thing if the 76ers had him on the injury report and were aware there was a chance Embiid would miss the game. However, they are Even a team official confirmed this to ESPN that Embiid would not be on the injury report about 24 hours before the game. The league should punish the 76ers for this.
Injuries happen. Players of Embiid's size often wake up feeling like they're lacking juice that day. I don't want to question in any way whether Embiid wasn't 100% right. Additionally, the 76ers have a lot to offer right now. They are in the middle of a playoff race that is tight at the top of the Eastern Conference beyond Boston. They are two games behind the 2nd place Milwaukee Bucks and just a game and a half ahead of 5th place Cleveland. A possible drop to that level would result in the 76ers having no home field advantage in their first playoff series. Additionally, Denver and Philadelphia entered this game virtually tied with a winning percentage of .674. If these two teams made the NBA Finals, this game would have an outsized impact as the teams would have home-court advantage in this series.
That being said, I also find it a little hard to believe that the absence of Tyrese Maxey and Tobias Harris in this game wasn't at least a small factor in Embiid's exit. Playing without an All-Star point guard and a great wing up top, the 76ers were far behind the eight-ball players and secured a win even with Embiid playing. When he wakes up feeling maybe 80 percent and those guys go into the game, it's a lot more winnable. Without them, Embiid would have needed a Herculean game. Instead, we got a herculean performance from Paul Reed, who had 30 points and 13 rebounds as he tried to keep the 76ers in the game.
Before we get to the MVP race, I need to reiterate that this sucks for the fans. Essentially having a no-show when there was no prior announcement is, I think, one thing that plays a real role in disconnecting fans from the league. This is why the player involvement policy has been as effective and valuable as it has been this season.
I don't know if I completely agree with attaching awards to it, but I'm glad the league implemented this policy. How do you feel about the idea of awards being given straight away?
Vorkunov: Well, I guess let's get to the MVP race, because that might be the one that was most affected by this.
This leaves Embiid trending in the wrong direction in the MVP race for a few reasons. One is that the MVP Award, like other awards, is both a narrative and a content award. I don't have voting rights so I can't comment on my previous voting decisions, but it's pretty clear how subjective this all is. Will voters punish Embiid? I wouldn't believe that since they didn't do it last year. He missed the game this weekend because something was wrong physically and that shouldn't be used against him.
The bigger problem for Embiid is that this no longer makes him eligible for the award anyway. It could be that he ends up missing too many games – more than 17. However, Embiid missed 12 of the 76ers' first 46 games last season and still played 66 games this season, so that's not a given.
It's ironic that Embiid is in danger of losing eligibility because he's having a better season this year than last and is the MVP front-runner (in this fictional election). I was in Philadelphia the other night when he scored 70 points against the San Antonio Spurs and it was an amazing performance; It will be a great lasting memory of his season.
Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokić fought in Philadelphia last week. (Bill Streicher/USA Today)
To your question about the new awards/played games guidelines: I don't hate them. I'm not saying I love it – I'm generally pro-chaos – but I get it. The NBA negotiated for its corporate interests over its basketball interests. But it kind of formalized something that was probably going to happen anyway. If Embiid played 63 games this season, would he win the MVP award? At some point you miss too many games to get a win. Every close game missed in the MVP race is simply that much more important and compounds the situation. It's a tricky path, but the NBA decided to build the wall itself (I don't think these two metaphors are in conflict). I think the bigger impact will be on All-NBA teams, where voters have historically given players more leeway because they missed a lot of games. In my opinion, even if Embiid ends up playing around 65 or 66 games, he might be harder to represent because his competition might end up playing more games than him than usual. It just becomes harder to vote for a truly dominant player who has played much less than others.
I think the person I would like to hear from is Amick. He has the MVP vote. Sam, how do you feel as a voter when the decision to rate players at the awards is taken away from you if they miss a significant number of games?
Amick: Here's the crazy part, Mike. I had spent the days leading up to that game thinking about that very question and listening to some of my media colleagues protesting that rule after Embiid's recent 70-point outburst against San Antonio. The logic that admittedly had some influence on my thought process was that he had played at such an incredible level that this supposedly unfair rule would prevent him from getting the recognition he so clearly deserved.
Like it or not, this latest game confirms why the league wanted to install such a system in the first place. On nights like Saturday, when mainstream audiences are eager for the kind of matchup that makes NBA marketing people's mouths water, the presumed hope was that this policy might force players like Embiid to take their chances to make game decisions in the interest of fans paying their bills. Obviously it's not quite that simple.
But when you see something like this, a player of Embiid's caliber not playing when the stakes are so high and the circumstances are so suspicious, it's hard not to feel like the policy is right. If you can't find a way to play 79.2 percent of your games in the regular season, it's completely fair to exclude you from the awards ceremony.
Vecenie: I think that's all reasonable, Sam. I would just prefer that the voters be given responsibility for this decision.
If voters think the difference between Embiid playing 62 games and, say, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander playing 75 games is so great that it's worth voting for one or the other, I am good with this decision-making process. For example, Taylor Snarr's EPM-based Estimated Wins Gained model currently ranks fourth in the league, despite currently posting the best EPM of the last decade. That's a measure of the strength of the games he missed.
However, Embiid is in an unprecedented crisis this season. He averages 51 points per 100 possessions. That's the best mark in NBA history, and it doesn't come close. The next best mark is James Harden in the 2018-19 season, when he averaged almost three full points fewer per 100 possessions. Embiid is averaging more than eight points per 100 possessions, better than the 20th-best season in league history. This is breathtaking. Additionally, I would also have him on an All-Defense team now as he leads the 76ers to a top-five mark in that regard. According to PBPStats.com, the Sixers give up fewer than 112 points per 100 possessions when Embiid is out there. It's hard for me to overlook his dominance when he's actually on the pitch.
But I have no voice and would not feel comfortable considering this policy and the NBA awards are tied to player contracts. My real problem with the policy as a whole is that I think it encourages players who try to gamble when they are not 100 percent looking for financial gain. We just saw Tyrese Haliburton attempt to return from a hamstring injury last week, playing just one game before now missing the next four after not responding well. For Haliburton, the incentive to return is greater than any other player in the league right now, as an All-NBA appearance for him this season would trigger the supermax language in his contract, giving him an additional $41 million over the next five years would earn US dollars.
I don't know if Embiid would see things the same way considering he just won MVP, but he would certainly be motivated to see it that way. There are simply significant flaws in the design of the process that I cannot get behind. And while your answer might be that separating awards from player contracts would fix the original sin here, the NBA went into this offseason knowing that it had just agreed to continue that practice under the new collective bargaining agreement.
I'm just not convinced that award eligibility has any place in player eligibility policies, although I would respect it if a voter simply thought Jokić or Gilgeous-Alexander would bring more value to their team this season would.
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(Photo of Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokić: Isaiah J. Downing / USA Today)