May 21, 2021
The finalists for the NBA's most prestigious regular season awards came out Thursday, and not surprisingly, Sixers stars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons were named as members of the final three for MVP and Defensive Player of the Year honors respectively.
And even though Sixers fans may think there are compelling cases for each player to bring home some hardware, it doesn't really look like either has a reasonable chance at winning.
We'll start at MVP, where Embiid was the victim of a flukey knee injury that cost him some meaningful time in the middle of the regular season. Nikola Jokic is going to win this award and probably rightfully so, but it's hard not to think that Embiid would have given him a run for his money, had the Sixers' big man been able to play an extra 10 or 12 games.
Here's a comparison:
| Embiid | Jokic | |
| GP | 51 | 72 |
| PPG | 28.5 | 26.4 |
| RPG | 10.6 | 10.8 |
| BPG | 1.4 | 0.7 |
| FG% | 51.3% | 56.6% |
| FT/G | 10.7 | 5.5 |
Embiid got to the line, a lot, and is probably the superior defender, while Jokic was a master helping to run Denver's offense, dishing out over eight assists per game. The MVP landscape is a unanimous win for the Serbian, with Embiid mostly coming in second place:
| Outlet | MVP winner | Embiid |
| ESPN | Nikola Jokic | 2nd place |
| The Athletic | Jokic | 3rd place* |
| Sports Illustrated | Jokic | — |
| Sporting News | Jokic (5/5) | — |
| The Ringer | Jokic | 2nd place |
| CBS | Jokic (8/8) | 2nd place (7/8) 4th place (1/8) |
| New York Times | Jokic | 4th place* |
| USA Today | Jokic | 2nd place |
| Hoops Hype | Jokic | 2nd place |
*Steph Curry finishes second
As for the defensive player of the year, Utah's big man Rudy Gobert is the popular choice, raking in the award in 18 of 22 votes cast below, with Simmons winning the award at the hands of just eight writers. Here's how it shakes out:
| Outlet | DPY winner | Simmons |
| ESPN | Rudy Gobert | 3rd place* |
| The Athletic | Gobert | 2nd place |
| Sports Illustrated | Gobert | — |
| Sporting News | Gobert (4/5) Simmons (1/5) | 1st place (1/5) 2nd place (4/5) |
| The Ringer | Gobert | 2nd place |
| CBS | Gobert (6/8) Simmons (2/8) | 1st place (2/8) 2nd place (4/8) 3rd place (2/8) |
| New York Times | Gobert | 3rd place* |
| USA Today | Gobert (2/3) Simmons (1/3) | — |
| Hoops Hype | Gobert | 2nd place |
*Draymond Green finishes second
The Sporting News' Benyam Kildane is one of the few who stood up for Simmons, and here is his reasoning:
Out of my picks, the one that stands out is Ben Simmons over Rudy Gobert for Defensive Player of the Year.
Not taking anything away from Gobert, who has been unbelievable anchoring the Jazz's defence and is a big reason why they're the team with the best record in the league. Playing alongside Joel Embiid, who has been a monster defensively this season, probably works against Simmons, but his versatility and impact, switching between guarding point guards through to centres, gives him the edge in this debate for me.
Not only can Simmons disrupt any player on the court, but his steals and deflections generate a ton of offence for the 76ers, who are top five in both fastbreak points and points off turnovers. [The Sporting News]
Expect to see Embiid as an All-NBA choice, and Simmons (along with potentially Matisse Thybulle) on the All-Defense team when the award recipients are announced later this postseason.
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