It’s been a little bit of an odd season for Joel Embiid thus far.
On the one hand he’s more dominant than ever. In Nick Nurse’s new-look offense, Embiid is averaging a league-leading 34.9 points a game along with 11.7 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 2.0 blocks and 1.1 steals. The reigning MVP somehow looks even better, and the Sixers are 22-6 when Embiid is in the lineup.
On the other hand, he’s already missed a lot of time because of injury and illness. The NBA now requires players to play at least 65 games in a season in order to qualify for awards — like MVP — and All-NBA teams.