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Markelle Fultz continues to surprise with an expected face turn.

Last November, he went to bat for Philly sports fans, and now he’s siding with Joel Embiid in believing that the NBA community at large does indeed hate the process:

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Kevin Durant believes that Joel Embiid should be the 2021-22 NBA MVP.

Durant, who won the award during the 2013-14 season, said that while there were plenty of deserving candidates, he felt Embiid's season was a cut above the rest.

"If I had to choose, I would go Joel Embiid," the Brooklyn Nets star forward said after Tuesday's walkthrough. "He led the league in scoring, double-doubles, his team won 50 games this year. Numbers were incredible. It's a great year.

"But you can just close your eyes and just pick any one of the guys out of the top six or seven, and you can have a good MVP this year. That shows how great our league is right now and how talented our league is from top to bottom, but I would go with Embiid if I had to choose."

Embiid has expressed disappointment with the way he is viewed by some voters -- a theory that Durant backed up while discussing how narrative plays into the MVP voting.

"It's unfortunate," Durant said. "There's a lot of players that have been controlled by their narrative. Some of it has been because of the player, some of it just has been because of the perception of other people about that player. In Joel's case, more people just like Giannis and Jokic. It's as simple as that. They just prefer them more than Embiid's personality or his story, I guess."

Durant said that from a basketball standpoint, Embiid's numbers stand up against everyone else's -- even those of Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, the player who many in the league believe will win his second straight MVP after the season.

"As a basketball player, people that look at just the game and what happens on the floor, narratives and who you are and your personality, that stuff really doesn't matter," Durant said. "It shouldn't matter when it comes down to awards like that. But [with] Joel, [voters] probably just like those other guys better that you personally. That's not fair at all, but that's just usually how it goes sometimes. But if I had a vote, I would choose Joel."

Quote (Sixers @ Apr 15 2022 03:05pm)

Embiid getting love from other players for MVP, they know what's up.



https://i.imgur.com/KRCsn69.jpg

And Durant:

Quote (Sixers @ Apr 15 2022 06:18pm)

Tell that to KD, not me. It's a quote lol

His peers know what's good though, the media can hate all they want.

Quote (piatek @ Apr 15 2022 12:51pm)

Embiid lead the league in double doubles? He might want to go take a look at who lead the league in double doubles and triple doubles. Feel free to post the stats here. Also win shares, Per, on/off and pretty much everything else. All Embiid really has over him is 3 more ppg on 10% less fg%.

Quote (piatek @ Apr 15 2022 12:51pm)

Embiid lead the league in double doubles? He might want to go take a look at who lead the league in double doubles and triple doubles. Feel free to post the stats here. Also win shares, Per, on/off and pretty much everything else. All Embiid really has over him is 3 more ppg on 10% less fg%.


Do they? Because the quote shows otherwise. The media have the correct stats and information, KD doesn't. It's an emotional response from him, not logical.

Quote (Red Sox @ Apr 16 2022 05:34am)

Fred VanVleet on Embiid: "He was more back to the basket (in 2019), playing like a 5. Now he's turned into Kevin Durant, Michael Jordan, Kobe, Shaq all put together."

Quote (Nwotmik @ Apr 15 2022 05:48pm)

The maple syrup juices are starting to flow into FVV’s brain.