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A16 SPORTS
Thursday 4 May 2023
Embiid: MVP is validation, but NBA title is still the goal
By JIMMY GOLEN ing their way to the No. 3
AP Sports Writer overall pick in the 2014
BOSTON (AP) — Joel Em- draft.
biid finally said it: Winning But he missed two full sea-
the NBA’s Most Valuable sons with foot injuries, leav-
Player award has been a ing Philadelphia fans to
dream ever since he belat- wait while general manag-
edly started playing bas- er Sam Hinkie insisted that
ketball. they “Trust the Process.”
“I know I’ve always said I Injuries continue to keep
don’t care, but it was just Embiid off the court to this
for you guys to leave me day: He missed Game 1
alone,” the 76ers center of Philadelphia’s second-
said Wednesday, a day af- round series against Bos-
ter he was voted to his first ton and is officially listed as
MVP after two runner-up doubtful with a sprained
finishes. “I do care in the knee for Game 2. Embiid
way that it validates ev- said “it’s a possibility” he
erything, all the work that would play on Wednesday
you’ve put in. And to be night.
sitting here is just amazing.” “Obviously, it’s earlier than
A native of Cameroon who Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid (21) shoots over Brooklyn Nets’ Nic Claxton (33) during the first what we thought, consid-
didn’t pick up the sport un- half of Game 3 in an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Thursday, April 20, 2023, in New ering what I had. We’re
til he was 15, Embiid was York. just going to take day by
the 76ers’ reward for tank- Associated Press day and see how it feels,”
he said after some light
shooting on Wednesday
morning. “It’s a possibility,
just like it was a possibility in
the first game. Obviously, I
want to play.”
Comparing his life to a
movie, Embiid said he
originally took up basket-
ball, thinking it might be a
pathway to a college de-
gree and a decent job.
It earned him a scholar-
ship to Kansas, where he
wanted to redshirt as a
freshman and stay for five
years. When coach Bill
Self told him there was no
need, and he could be the
No. 1 overall draft pick, Em-
biid didn’t believe him.
“I didn’t think basketball
would take me anywhere,”
he said. “The probability
of someone like me, who
started playing basketball
at 15, to get the chance to
be the MVP of the league
is I would say is probably
‘negative zero,’” he said.
“We don’t have a lot of
opportunities to get to this
point, in Africa in general.
But improbable doesn’t
mean impossible,” he said.
“You can accomplish any-
thing you set your mind to
as long as you believe in
it, and you keep working
hard. Anything can hap-
pen.” Embiid, 29, averaged
33.1 points to win his sec-
ond straight scoring title,
averaged 10.2 rebounds
and tied a career high with
4.2 assists per game. q
