The Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid has become the first player to win the NBA's newly named Michael Jordan trophy, breaking the dominance of two-time MVPs Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokić.
Embiid was runner-up to Jokić in the previous two seasons, but this year, he received 73 first-place votes and 915 total points, edging out Jokić, who received 15 first-place votes and 674 total points. Antetokounmpo came in third, followed by Jayson Tatum and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
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Joel Embiid is the 2nd African-Born NBA MVP
Despite Jokić's statistical advantage and Antetokounmpo's reputation as the best player in the league, Embiid's impressive regular season performance was enough to secure the award. In back-to-back seasons, he topped the league's scoring charts with an average of 33.1 points per game, alongside 10.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and a combination of 2.7 blocks and steals per game, all played in an average of 34.6 minutes per night.
He also led his team to win almost two-thirds of their games when he was on the court, with offensive and defensive ratings that would have ranked first and second, respectively, if averaged over a full season.
Embiid's win makes him the second African-born player to win the MVP award, joining Hakeem Olajuwon.
In addition, he has become the sixth player not born in the United States to achieve this recognition, joining the likes of Jokić, Antetokounmpo, Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash, and Olajuwon.
International players have won the last five MVP awards and took the top three spots in the voting for the second year in a row.
The 7-foot Cameroonian center helped lead the third-seeded Sixers to a first-round playoff sweep of the sixth-seeded Brooklyn Nets.
He missed Game 4 of the opening-round series and Game 1 of the second-round series against the Celtics, which the Sixers won 119-115. He is doubtful to play in Game 2.
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