Sixers' James Harden backs teammate Joel Embiid for MVP: 'He deserves it, man'

James Harden has been a member of the Philadelphia 76ers for less than two months, but that's been more than enough time for him to appreciate the brilliance of Joel Embiid. The duo is expected to help the Sixers compete for a championship, but Harden believes another trophy should be on its way to Philly this year.

In an interview with Ramona Shelburne of ESPN, Harden backed Embiid for MVP, saying "he deserves it, man."

"I've only been here for a few weeks, but I already see his mindset," Harden said. "He wants to win. Some guys just want numbers, but he has both. He has the mentality of winning, and he scores the ball at a high level. I think he's prepared himself, especially coming off last year, for this year to be one of his best years."

This has indeed been one of Embiid's best years. He's averaging a career-high 29.8 points, 11.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.4 blocks while shooting 48.8 percent from the field and 35.8 percent from 3-point land. He's second in the league in scoring, behind only LeBron James, seventh in rebounding and ninth in blocks -- the only player in the league in the top-10 in all three categories. If you want to get into the advanced stats, he's third in win shares (10.5), third in VORP (5.7) and third in box score plus/minus (9.4).

There's no question the numbers are there for him to be one of the leading candidates for MVP, and he checks the box for team success as well. With Ben Simmons sidelined all season, Embiid put the Sixers on his back, leading them to a 35-23 record before Harden made his debut. For the season, they're now in third place in the Eastern Conference at 45-27, and just 1.5 games behind the Miami Heat for first.

"Most of the games he's played this year, we've been fighting for the No. 1 seed," Harden said. "And he's not only top 2, top 3 in scoring but he's impactful to our team winning."

Whether Embiid ends up winning the award for the first time in his career remains to be seen, but for what it's worth he is currently the betting favorite at Caesers Sportsbook with -160 odds. But with reigning MVP Nikola Jokic (+135) and former two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo (+900) making strong cases of their own, the race figures to go down to the wire.

Comments

Video Of How 'Fake Klay Thompson' Got Past The Warriors Security And Gets Shots On The Court

The Golden State Warriors ended up winning Game 5 of the 2022 NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics and took a 3-2 lead in the series. It feels certain that the Dubs will win this series and win their fourth NBA Championship in the last eight years. While winning the finals will mean a lot for every player on the Dubs' roster, it will certainly mean more for Klay Thompson. Klay was sidelined due to injuries over the last two seasons and made a comeback this season. Finishing off the season with a ring will certainly be the cherry on top for him. Speaking of Klay Thompson, an incident took place around a certain lookalike of the Warriors' sharpshooter. We are sure you must remember the 'Fake Klay Thompson' who got famous a few years ago. Prior to Game 5 of the series, Fake Klay snuck into the Chase Center and got shots up before the matchup began. NBA fans found this hilarious, but it seems like the Warriors organization didn't. He was handed a lifetime ban from th...

Dennis Rodman Once Said He, Michael Jordan, And Scottie Pippen Could Lock Up LeBron James: "LeBron Is So Easy To Play. He’s So F**king Easy To Play. He Doesn’t Have Any Moves."

If there is something that will never end it is the comparison between players from different eras. Even in that niche, most comparisons revolve around the legendary players from the Chicago Bulls. Yes, we are talking about the likes of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Dennis Rodman. A perfect example of that was seen by fans back in a 2019 interview featuring Dennis Rodman. The Worm was asked about his thoughts on guarding none other than LeBron James. Rodman replied: (starts at 6:06) "You know who could lock up LeBron? Me, Mike, and Scottie could. F*ck yeah. I would have locked his a** up. LeBron is so easy to play. He’s so f*cking easy to play, he don’t have any moves. Only move he has is streak down the line. He ain’t got no moves. Where he going?? Where is he going that’s quick? That’ll be sh*t, you can stop that. Scottie Pippen would have shut his f*cking a** down quick before I get to him. His game is too simple, he’s just big. I’m 260 and 6’8” and 6’9”, that’s the onl...

Zion Williamson posts Instagram video of monster between-the-legs dunk while recovering from foot injury

Zion Williamson's status has been one of the great mysteries of the 2021-22 season. When he was initially diagnosed with a fractured foot, he was expected to be available in time for the beginning of the season. And then he wasn't. The New Orleans Pelicans offered only vague and inconsistent updates. Williamson himself never spoke. And now, with the season coming to an end, it appears as though Williamson won't be returning to the floor at all. After missing most of his rookie year, his third season is on track to come and go without a minute of game time as well. Where that leaves Williamson moving forward, we can't say, but for the first time in months, the Pelicans forward gave fans a morsel of optimism. On his Instagram story, he posted this video of him doing a monster between-the-legs dunk. Zion Williamson just posted this to his IG story: (And if you’re wondering if it’s recent, he’s wearing his new Zion 2 shoe in it) As Andrew Lopez of ESPN notes, the video ...

Crossover World

Search This Blog