Cameroonian-Born NBA Philadelphia 76ers player Joel Embiid wins 2022/2023 NBA MVP Award

Nkwain Desmond May 3rd, 2023, 5:53 am

Joel Embiid is the winner of the 2022/2023 Kia NBA MVP Award for the first time in his career.

The Philadelphia All-Star center and two-time league scoring champion, Embiid, who had long lobbied for the award, earned his first NBA MVP trophy Tuesday night, topping two-time winner Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets.

This season, he averaged 33.1 points to win his second consecutive scoring title, he also averaged 10.2 rebounds and a tied career high of 4.2 assists per game.

Joel Embiid is the first player to win the Kia NBA MVP Award with the 76ers since Allen Iverson in the 2000-01 season.

Complete voting results ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/kko3o8tmxi

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) May 2, 2023

Embiid becomes the first 76ers to win the award since Allen Iverson who won it in 2001.

Joel Embiid was born in Yaounde, Cameroon and played Football for most his teenage life before switching to Basketball. The 29 year old beat Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo to the award who have both won it two times each.

EMVPIID. @Kia | #KiaMVP
🎨: @ChrisBMurray pic.twitter.com/K08H2My8FZ

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) May 2, 2023

Embiid has been sidelined with a sprained right knee that made him miss one game of the playoff match against Brooklyn and the opening game of the Eastern Conference semifinals against Boston, which was won by Philadelphia on Monday night. He hinted he’ll be back for the playoffs series against Boston Celtics.