If Kevin Durant had his way, Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid would win the league’s MVP honor this season.
However, Durant is not confident that Embiid will actually get it.
“There are a lot of players that are controlled by their narrative,” Durant told the New York Daily News Tuesday ahead of her play-in game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. “Part of it was because of the player and part of it was the perception that other people have of that player. In Joel’s case, more people like Giannis [Antetokounmpo] and [Nikola] Jokic.
“It’s as simple as that. His personality, his story, I think. If, as a basketball player, people are just looking at the game and what’s on the floor, then the narrative and who you are and your personality doesn’t matter or shouldn’t matter doesn’t matter. Joel, they probably just like these guys better. It’s not fair. But that’s the way it goes sometimes.”
Embiid, along with Antetokounmpo and Jokic, is a favorite to win the MVP award – and he’s certainly done enough to make himself a talking point.
Embiid posted a career-high 30.6 points per game that season, which was enough to earn him the NBA scoring title. He is the first international player to win this award and the first center in more than two decades. Embiid averaged a career-best 11.7 rebounds per game and lost at least 40 points in three of his last four games of the regular season.
Like Durant, Embiid believes he’s done enough to become the league’s MVP this season, but still has his doubts.
“If it happens, great. If not, I don’t know what to do,” he said earlier this month. “I’ll feel like they hate me. I feel like the standard for guys in Philadelphia, or for me, is different than everyone else.”
The votes for the MVP award have already been cast and it’s sure to be a close race between the big three men.
Although he doesn’t get the chance, Durant would vote for Embiid.
“He led the league in scores, double-double, his team won 50 games this year. The numbers were incredible. It’s a great year,” Durant said on ESPN.
“But you can just close your eyes and just pick one of the guys from the top six or seven and you can have a good MVP this year. It shows how great our league is right now and how talented our league is from top to bottom, but I would choose Embiid if I had to choose.”
If he could, Kevin Durant would vote for Joel Embiid for MVP. (Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)