Joel Embiid is LeBron James and Kevin Durant in this analogy?

Be honest. You made up half of those stat acronyms

I'd give Giannis the MVP but the voters seem tired of him. I don't hear his name mentioned much. His numbers are similar to Embiid's and he's even more effective defensively because he can guard multiple positions.

Right.

If you're going to award it based on what a player is CAPABLE of doing, it's Giannis. If you're going to award it based on what a player IS doing, it's Jokic.

I don't see an argument for Embiid at this point. He's not quite as productive as Jokic or quite as versatile/capable as Giannis. No matter your metric, your answer isn't Embiid, IMO.

What's wrong with Giannis? He's putting up monster numbers again in points and rebounds. He's a MUCH better defender than Jokic. Jokic is averaging two more assists per game than Giannis and two more rebounds; however, he's scoring four less points than Giannis.

Their offensive numbers aren't enough in Nikola's favor to make up for the defensive superiority of Giannis.

Nothing at all - I think there's a fine argument to be made for Giannis as well.

My point is mostly as to Embiid - there's just not a lane for him, IMO.

If you want to lean into stats, you can say that Jokic's extra assists and boards more directly impact the scoreboard than Giannis and that with his range being better he has more impact on his team offensively by being able to space the floor more.

And then lean into the 'aggregate' stats to point out that yes, his offense DOES do enough more than Giannis's defense to be more valuable given that he has him edged in WAR and VORP.

But for Embiid, there's just not a path through those two that I can reasonably argue.

Embiid's path is that voters are tired of Giannis and Jokic won it last year. Embiid is also a presence defensively. The fact that Giannis can guard more players won't be a factor to most voters.

Embiid is the best player in the league right now...period. Jokic is simply a fat stat padder who's team has been irrelevant this year. i get the feeling most of the Embiid haters haven't actually watched him this season because what you lot are saying is pure BS IMO. There's a reason why he's the favourite..it's not by accident.

Giannis can't guard smaller guards with speed...our boy Tyrese Maxey has taken him to the cleaners in isolation in every game we've played the bucks.

Giannis can guard a lot more athletic players than Embiid.

Embiid needs to get his broke dick out of the second round before I'll talk about him being the best player in the league. He's not better than Giannis, Curry, Lebron, or Durant. He's also fat and constantly looks tired. If you're making fun of Jokic's physical condition, I'm not sure Embiid is the guy to contrast him with. I'll be shocked if Embiid can play many minutes over three or four playoff rounds. Dude always looks winded enough to be playing in Mile High Stadium.

The Nuggets are 1.5 games behind the 76ers in the standings. I know they play in a different Conference. It's just funny you saying they're irrelevant. Just because it's a smaller market and they didn't have a Ben Simmons fiasco?

:spock:

Philadelphia 76er's current record: 37-23
Denver Nuggets current record: 36-25

I mean, yeah, if we throw out the stats and just focus on how we feel about the player, Embiid might be in the conversation.

It's not just the voters, apparently. I live 4 hours from Milwaukee and can't seem to find a Bucks game on TV. TNT/TBS certainly doesn't seem to want them.

You guys need to remember who you are responding to...