Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid remains the only MVP in NBA history to never make a conference finals appearance in his career, after Thursday night’s 118-115 Game 6 loss to the New York Knicks in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Embiid is just the third MVP to never make the NBA Finals, alongside Steve Nash and Derrick Rose. Other MVPs to never win the NBA Finals include Allen Iverson, Charles Barkley, James Harden, Karl Malone, and Russell Westbrook.
Joel Embiid is the only MVP in NBA history to never make the Conference Finals.
36 players have earned MVP honors since the inaugural vote in 1956. pic.twitter.com/WNJzWwGcdG
— Justin Spiro (@DarkoStateNews) May 3, 2024
“It sucks to lose,” said Embiid, who finished with 39 points and 13 rebounds in Game 6. “The goal is to win a championship. Anytime that doesn’t happen, that’s all I care about. I don’t care if I got to the second round. That does not mean anything to me. We just didn’t accomplish what we wanted to.
“The thing is we believe in ourselves so much that we believe that we actually could have won it. But everything didn’t go the way we wanted it to.”
Thirty-six players have earned MVP honors since the inaugural vote in 1956.
Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid averaged a career-high 38 points per 36 minutes, scored a career-best 70 points
Despite never reaching the conference finals, Embiid set a number of NBA records this season.
In January, he was averaging a career-high 38 points per 36 minutes, the highest of any NBA player in any season in the shot clock era since 1954-55.
NBA Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain is a close second. At the age of 25, Chamberlain averaged 37.4 points per 36 minutes in 80 games played of the 1961-62 season.
The other players on the top-10 list include Harden (35.4 in 2018-19), Giannis Antetokounmpo (34.9 in 2019-20), Stephen Curry (33.7 in 2020-21), and Michael Jordan (33.4 in 1986-87).
In Philadelphia’s 133-123 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Jan. 22, Embiid scored a career-high 70 points on 24-of-41 (58.5%) shooting from the field, 1-of-2 (50%) from 3-point range, and 21-of-23 (91.3%) at the foul line.
Embiid became just the ninth player in NBA history to score 70 points in a game. He broke Chamberlain’s 76ers franchise record of 68 points as well.
No player had ever put up a stat line of 70 points, 18 rebounds, and five assists in a game. Embiid joined Chamberlain and David Robinson as the only centers in NBA history to score at least 70 points in a game.
Embiid was leading the league in scoring prior to his meniscus tear in January
Through his first 34 games (all starts) of the regular season, Joel Embiid was averaging an NBA-best 35.3 points, 11.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 1.1 steals, 1.8 blocks, and 34 minutes per game.
However, Embiid suffered a meniscus tear in his left knee during a loss to Golden State on Jan. 30. The injury sidelined him for 29 straight games through February and March. This disqualified him for MVP and the All-NBA teams.
The collective bargaining agreement requires players to appear in at least 65 regular-season games to be eligible for awards and honors. It allows each player to miss no more than 17 games in an 82-game season.
Embiid will enter his ninth NBA season in 2024-25.
