John Hollinger of The Athletic submitted his pick for the NBA MVP this past Tuesday and went with Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid.
While the selection of Embiid isn’t necessarily controversial on the surface, Hollinger went on to explain his vote and divulged that his decision isn’t based on the 2022-2023 season alone. Rather, he says, Embiid deserves the award because of his play over the past five seasons.
“I must admit history plays a role here. I don’t think ‘voter fatigue’ is the right word to describe what I’m feeling as much as this: I don’t think it’s quite right that this era’s scoreboard would stand at Jokić 3, Giannis 2, Embiid 0 after the last five seasons,” Hollinger wrote. “Those three have been the defining players of the last three campaigns (well, in the regular season anyway, which is what this award measures), and as I noted previously, quality-wise, the differences between them from year to year have been microscopic.”
The NBA MVP Award is a year-by-year honor and previous performances shouldn’t be taken into consideration. Hollinger seemed to recognize that but ultimately felt things balanced themselves out because Embiid should win this season regardless.
“Jokić has mostly had the edge and deserved his two trophies, but the noisiness of some of the underlying metrics might more accurately describe the situation as a de facto dead heat,” Hollinger added. “Between that, and that Embiid is my pick as the best player in the league right now, I’m endorsing Embiid as this year’s Most Valuable Player.”
If Hollinger was able to submit a full ballot, he says Nikola Jokić would have earned his second-place vote and Giannis Antetokounmpo his third-place vote.
