The Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid has been named the NBA’s most valuable player for the 2022-23 season.
The 29-year-old Cameroonian centre picked up 73 first-place votes, with two-time MVP Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets second with 19.
Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks was third.
Embiid won his second consecutive NBA scoring title in the regular season, with a career-high season average of 33.1 points per game.
The six-time All Star has missed the Sixers’ last two games with a knee ligament sprain, including Monday’s win over the Boston Celtics in the first game of their Eastern Conference semi-final.
Embiid is only the second African player to be crowned MVP, after Hakeem Olajuwon in the 1993-94 season, while it is the fifth consecutive season an international player has won the MVP trophy, which in December was renamed the Michael Jordan Trophy. (BBC)
