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Fifth 76er ever to earn MVP honors, joining Chamberlain, Erving, Iverson and Malone; led 76ers to best season since 2000-01, while becoming second sixers player ever to win consecutive scoring titles.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n The\u00a0NBA announced that Philadelphia 76ers six-time All-Star center\u00a0Joel\u00a0Embiid\u00a0has been\u00a0named\u00a0the 2022-23 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player. Embiid is the fifth 76er ever to capture league MVP honors, joining Hall of Famers Wilt Chamberlain, Julius Erving, Allen Iverson, and Moses Malone.\u00a0The Cameroon native is the seventh international player to be named MVP since the award\u2019s inception.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Embiid led the NBA in scoring for the second consecutive season, averaging 33.1 points per game, joining Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain as the only 76ers ever to post an average of 33-plus points in a season. He is the first NBA player to win consecutive scoring titles since teammate James Harden (three straight, 2017-20) and the first 76er to do so since Hall of Famer Allen Iverson (2000-02).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Embiid led the 76ers to a 54-28 regular season, the team\u2019s best since 2000-01.\u00a0The third seed in the 2023 NBA Playoffs, Philadelphia is in the midst of an Eastern Conference Semifinals series against the Boston Celtics.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve watched Joel grow and evolve into one of the greatest players in 76ers franchise history over the last nine years. Today is a proud day for our organization as Joel becomes the fifth Sixer ever to capture League MVP honors,\u201d Managing Partner Josh Harris said. \u201cJoel overcame adversity at the start of his career with a combination of perseverance and grit, and now, his intense work ethic has pushed him into the NBA history books. It\u2019s been a joy to watch him dedicate himself to the team and the city of Philadelphia. Congratulations\u00a0to Joel, our fans, and our city on an honor we will always remember.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe have all witnessed the greatness of Joel Embiid during his entire career as a 76er and I am thrilled to see his exceptional hard work and dedication recognized by being named NBA MVP,\u201d 76ers Co-Managing Partner David Blitzer said. \u201cJoel is a once-in-a-lifetime talent whose impact extends far beyond the court. When you think of the greatest players to ever wear a 76ers uniform, your mind naturally goes to legends like Wilt Chamberlain, Julius Erving, Moses Malone, Charles Barkley and Allen Iverson. Tonight, Joel has cemented his place on that special list and we are all excited to see him continue to add to his legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n This season also saw Embiid add in 10.2 rebounds on a career-high 54.8% shooting from the floor. He\u2019s the third player in NBA history to average at least 33 points and 10 rebounds on 54% shooting from the floor, joining Chamberlain (1965-66 MVP) and fellow Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1971-72 MVP).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0Defensively, Embiid posted 1.7 blocks (seventh in the NBA) and 1.0 steals per outing. He and 2022-23 Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Jackson Jr. were the only two players in the league this season to average at least 1.5 blocks and 1.0 steals.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cLet me start by saying I am absolutely thrilled for Joel on winning the MVP award. He is the real deal and deserves every bit of recognition that comes his way. He embodies everything that the honor stands for. His drive to improve is unmatched, and like the saying \u2018a dream doesn\u2019t become reality through magic, it takes hard work\u2019, he\u2019s put in the work. What\u2019s most impressive is the why. He puts in the work because he wants to be a winner,\u201d said 76ers Head Coach Doc Rivers. \u201cThis MVP award is part of that journey. While this may be an individual award, in many ways it\u2019s also a team award. Joel\u2019s teammates have been unbelievable in contributing to his success. I couldn\u2019t be prouder of all of them. It takes a village. From our staff, our coaches, our players and the entire organization, congratulations\u00a0to the big fella.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve always believed that greatness emerges when talent meets relentless dedication. Joel\u2019s season was legendary, and the MVP award is the latest milestone of his decorated career,\u201d President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey said. \u201cHis impact on both sides of the ball places him in rarified air among all-time greats such as Hakeem, Kareem and Wilt. It has been a privilege to watch Joel over the last three seasons and I know this won\u2019t be his last accomplishment as we continue to strive toward our ultimate goal of winning an NBA championship.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n A deeper dive into Joel Embiid\u2019s Most Valuable Moments from 2022-23:\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Over the course of the season, Embiid earned three Eastern Conference Player of the Month awards (December, January and March\/April), as well as four Eastern Conference Player of the Week nods. His seven career Player of the Month honors are a franchise record.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Distributed by APO Group on behalf of National Basketball Association (NBA).<\/i><\/p>\n About the Philadelphia 76ers:\u00a0<\/strong> Source<\/a> Fifth 76er ever to earn MVP honors, joining Chamberlain, Erving, Iverson and Malone; led 76ers to best season since 2000-01, while becoming second sixers player ever to win consecutive scoring titles. The\u00a0NBA announced that Philadelphia 76ers six-time All-Star center\u00a0Joel\u00a0Embiid\u00a0has been\u00a0named\u00a0the 2022-23 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player. Embiid is the fifth 76er ever to capture league […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":150870,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-newsroom.com\/files\/thumb\/ae2fe04d7ea684a\/600\/418","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[278],"tags":[45905,258,256,16177,7621,4696,281,4691,450,279,280,37276,34130,33237,11325,13095,257,21048,7460,254,17890],"class_list":["post-150869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dr-congo","tag-76ers","tag-africa","tag-africa-news","tag-allstar","tag-center","tag-central-africa","tag-democratic-republic-of-congo","tag-dr-congo","tag-dr-congo-news","tag-drc","tag-drc-news","tag-embiid","tag-joel","tag-kia","tag-named","tag-nba","tag-news","tag-philadelphia","tag-player","tag-south-africa-today","tag-valuable"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-newsroom.com\/files\/thumb\/ae2fe04d7ea684a\/600\/418","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150869","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150869"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150869\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\nThe Philadelphia 76ers are one of the most storied franchises in the National Basketball Association, having won three World Championships, earning nine trips to The Finals and making 53 playoff appearances over 74 seasons. The Philadelphia 76ers organization is a Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment property.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
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South Africa Today Africa \u2013 Central Africa Democratic Republic of Congo<\/a> News<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"