BOSTON — You won’t find any Boston Celtics players up in arms about Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid being named the 2023 NBA MVP.
Embiid was recognized as the league MVP on Tuesday night after receiving 73 of the 100 first-place votes, his 915 points beating out Nikola Jokic (674), Giannis Antetokounmpo (606) and Jayson Tatum (280) among others. Jokic won each of the last two MVP awards after Antetokounmpo took consecutive honors before that.
“He deserved it. It’s really that simple,” Malcolm Brogdon said Wednesday after shootaround at the Auerbach Center, some nine hours before the Celtics were set to host the Sixers in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series. “He’s had an incredible season, he’s an incredible player. He deserved it.”
Al Horford added: “Well-deserved. The guy was great this season and by far he was the best player in our league this year. So he deserved the award.”
Embiid averaged 33.1 points and 10.2 rebounds per game while he shot 54.8% from the floor and 33% from 3-point range. A two-way contributor, Embiid’s scoring average ranked first in the league and was a career-high.
“He’s an incredible scorer so you got to take that serious, you got to change the way you play, you got to help,” Brogdon said. “He’s not a one-man job to defend him so it’s a team effort.”
It appears the Green will get another look into Embiid’s skillset with the four-time All-NBA talent “on track” to return from a knee injury Wednesday night. The 76ers were without Embiid in Game 1 against the Celtics on Monday, yet still took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
The Celtics are a 7.5-point favorite entering Game 2 with tip scheduled for 8 p.m. ET.
