Joel Embiid was designated MVP (Most Valuable Player) of the 2022/2023 NBA regular season with the Philadelphia Sixers earlier this month before players like Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo. 

The Cameroonian center, who had to wait for two years before being able to play in the NBA due to multiple injuries, ended up best scorer of the season with an average of 33,1 points per game. A very significant and valuable reward for the one who was born in Yaoundé twenty-nine years ago, even though things did not end up well for Philly in the playoffs.

The franchise from Pennsylvania could not go further than the semifinals of Eastern Conference and was kicked out of the playoffs race by the Boston Celtics after a Game Seven that was mastered and taken quietly by the C’s with a score that leaves no room for doubt: 112-88 for Boston, and a bitter taste for Doc River’s team and the feeling that the season was not achieved in the best way. When you have players like James Harden and Joel Embiid in your squad, the ambition cannot be anything else than the Finals, even if none of these two players have ever won a championship.

Against Boston, Embiid was in real pain against Al Horford who defended perfectly on him and made him doubt and hesitate. Always close to him without getting sanctioned, the Dominican power forward drove Embiid crazy and powerless when approaching the rim. In Game Seven, the 2023 MVP was limited in his usual contribution and ended up the game with only 15 points, 8 rebounds and one assist.

As a consequence of this elimination, coach Doc Rivers was laid off by the franchise, which puts Philadelphia in front of two major issues before the beginning of the next season: surrounding Embiid in the best way (what to do with James Harden?) and finding a coach able to make the Sixers reach the finals of conference.