Joel Embiid gets laughable honor from City of Philadelphia

Apr 16, 2022; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) before game one of the first round for the 2022 NBA playoffs against the Toronto Raptors at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

The City of Brotherly Love showed plenty of it to Joel Embiid this week … albeit in truly laughable fashion.

Anna Orso of the Philly Inquirer reported on Thursday that the Philadelphia City Council officially passed a resolution naming the 76ers All-Star Embiid MVP … “Most Valuable Philadelphian.”

Embiid famously missed out on the NBA MVP award this season, finishing second to Denver Nuggets counterpart Nikola Jokic. But while this “MVP” honor stands for “Most Valuable Philadelphian,” it could also stand for another very apt description — “most very pathetic.”

It really doesn’t get much more participation trophy-esque and “it’s giving loser vibes” than that. Philadelphia might as well have passed a resolution declaring that the 76ers, who lost in the second round this year, were their own personal NBA champions too.

That is not to take away anything from Embiid, who had a fine season with an NBA-high 30.6 points per game and battled admirably through multiple injuries in the playoffs. But we doubt that this so-called “MVP” award will make Embiid feel too much better, especially with how disappointed he sounded about not winning the real thing.