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NBA Awards Race: Hall-of-Fame coach bashes MVP argument for ‘lazy’ Joel Embiid

By Ian Levy

Mar 10, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) celebrates win against the Portland Trail Blazers at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 10, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) celebrates win against the Portland Trail Blazers at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports /
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Joel Embiid is clearly putting up MVP-level numbers. But one Hall-of-Fame coach thinks he takes too many possessions off to really win.

Early in the season, it seemed like Nikola Jokic might run away with his third consecutive MVP Award. But as the season has gone along, the Nuggets have lost some of their edge and the Philadelphia 76ers have surged. Unsurprisingly, that has brought Joel Embiid to the forefront of the conversation.

The 76ers are 10-4 since the All-Star Break, with a scoring differential of plus-9.4 per 100 possessions, the best in the league over that span. Over that stretch, Embiid has averaged 35.2 points, 10.6 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 2.6 blocks per game, shooting 57.6 percent from the field. But, for some people, that’s not nearly enough.

NBA Awards Race: George Karl says Joel Embiid ‘takes too many possessions off’

In a recent appearance on Sirius radio, Hall-of-Fame coach George Karl was asked what he thought about the MVP candidacy of Embiid. His answer wasn’t exactly filled with glowing praise: “I don’t want to bad mouth Embiid because I think he’s really, really good… But he takes too many possessions off. He has lazy body language.”

If you honestly think Giannis Antetokounmpo or Nikola Jokic have been better than Embiid, that’s one thing. But lazy body language feels like a … lazy … excuse for excluding a guy who is leading the league in scoring and ranks top-10 in rebounds, blocks, and free-throw attempts.

Zach Lowe made a similar characterization about Jokic a week ago, calling his league-leading 45 kicked-ball violations, “his way of saying ‘I just don’t feel like playing defense.'” But Lowe wasn’t using that critique to eliminate Jokic from MVP consideration.

There are plenty of valid ways of parsing the MVP race but someone’s body language or hard they appear to be playing seems like it should be pretty low on the list of meaningful criteria.

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