Joel Embiid is the MVP (best player) of the National basketball association (NBA) for the 2022-2023 season. The fulcrum of Philadelphia 76ers was favored by 73 of the 100 voters who placed him in first position and the Cameroonian collected a total of 915 points, ahead of the Serb Nikola Jokic from Denver (674 pts), winner of the last two seasons; and the Greek Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee, 606 pts), 2019 and 2020 winner. After biting the dust for the past two years, the 29-year-old Cameroonian pivot has thus succeeded after seven seasons in the League. Becoming the 2nd African to this coronation, after the Nigerian Hakeem Olajuwon in 1994 of which he made a model.
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And it was in this year 1994 that Joël Embiid was born, to a military father and a housewife mother. Interested in volleyball, the lucky winner of the best basketball competition in the world abandoned his first discipline at the age of 15, for basketball. And it is precisely in the basket that he will find his way. Spotted by the experts of the camp of his compatriot Mbah in Mouthe, Embiid emigrated to the United States at the age of 16, where the University of Kansas welcomed him. Very quickly, Joël Embiid found his bearings with the Philadelphia Sixers, before suffering injuries that put him away from the arenas for two years.
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When he returns to the field, Joël Embiid gains momentum and in his 7th year in the League, the pivot reaches the holy grail this season, after having failed in second place the last time. This consecration is the fruit of a particularly flourishing season. The 2.13m giant was the top scorer of the season for the 2nd season in a row. With an average of 33.1 points, against 30.6 points last season. In addition, the pivot of the Philadelphia 76ers was the 8th rebounder of the season with 10.2 catches per game.
This is the first time in his career that Joel Embiid has been voted the NBA’s best player. “ It took a long time. A lot of work “, reacted the chosen one of the year. ” You know, I’ve been through a lot, and I’m not just talking about basketball. I talk about life as a whole, about my story; where I’m from, what it took to get here “, sighed the one who made the news this year, about his nationality changed from Cameroonian to American, and later from French. With a view to the 2024 Olympics. He who has never played for the national team of his country of origin.
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