Monday night was supposed to be a matchup between Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers and Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets.
These two supremely talented players are frontrunners for MVP and people pay close attention whenever they face off.
But Embiid sat out of Monday’s game due to an injury and that allowed Jokic to once again dominate.
Shannon Sharpe gave his two cents about Embiid’s absence on Tuesday.
He gave Embiid a pass for sitting out, saying, “Embiid has been playing damn near every game.”
But he added, “Jokic did what he was supposed to do and put on a demolition job.”
.@ShannonSharpe reacts to Joel Embiid sitting out vs Nikola Jokić:
“Embiid has been playing damn near every game. But Jokić did what he was supposed to do and put on a demolition job.” pic.twitter.com/zGBa1qyclK
— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) March 28, 2023
Even though Jokic had yet another stellar night, Sharpe doesn’t think he’s a lock for Most Valuable Player this season.
He thinks that this race will come down to the wire.
He’s not the only one who feels that way: most people agree that the competition between these two players will be very tight in the final weeks of play.
When the season started, there were multiple players who were in the running for MVP, including Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks, Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics, and Giannis Antetokokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks.
But now it’s just a two-man race and it’ll almost certainly be Embiid or Jokic who wins the top prize.
There has been a lot of talk about Embiid sitting out of Monday’s game, with some saying it hurt his chances of earning votes.
But when you compare both players based on their numbers and the seasons they’ve had, it’s clear that Sharpe is right: either of these players could end up taking MVP.
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