All Star game, Embiid: ‘I’m the MVP, but I know I can improve’

Joel Embiid thinks about it for a while, interrupted by his son Arthur Elijah who breaks into the press room in tears looking for dad. Then, after having picked up his eldest son and removed the microphone so as not to turn him into a toy, he responds confidently, without joking as he usually does. “I don’t want to make a case or start a campaign, but I think the way I’m playing speaks for itself, it says why I’m the MVP of the season.” The Cameroonian from Philadelphia says it as obvious as the fact that in Cleveland freezes in the middle of winter. And the numbers seem to prove him right: 29.6 points, top scorer of 2021-22, 11.2 rebounds and the confidence that when he dominates, Philadelphia wins.

Mvp

–

Embiid isn’t the only candidate for the most coveted individual award of one of the most contender seasons in recent history. But he’s the one that always wows every time he plays. “Considering what we’ve been through, the absence of another All Star, I had to take my game to another level on both sides of the pitch,” Joel argues. I have teammates around who give everything in every single match, but I believe that the team needs me to be dominant to win: if I continue to do so and the victories arrive I have a chance to win the trophy, but I believe that what will really make the difference it will be my game “.

Next level

–

Embiid has risen to a new level in this 2021-22. After Covid that kept him out for almost the entire month of November (“I was afraid I wouldn’t make it” he said), he has turned into a force of nature that is playing with a continuity never had before which makes this his best season. “It’s my best season so far – he is keen to underline -. I know I can get to an even higher level and I’m working to get to that level. I am convinced that I played very well in the final of last season and that I am at a very high level in this too, but I am sure I can do even more. I always try to play to the max, even if it comes at a physical price that I think I can be one of the few players in the league who can pay. Above all, I want to be respected even more in defense: to be able to do that I need my body to be at the highest level, and I think I haven’t gotten there yet. I want to be a complete player, add to my repertoire some moves that I see Steph Curry do. I don’t want to be just a center that dominates the area: I want to know how to do everything on the pitch ”. More than a purpose, it sounds like a threat to the rest of the NBA: Embiid is playing as a phenomenon this season and Philadelphia has taken advantage of it to overcome the absence of Ben Simmons. Now that she has James Harden beside her, Embiid will be able to focus more on his work. And become that sensationally more gifted monster than others, not just physically, that he is sure he can be.