PHILADELPHIA — If not playing in Monday’s anticipated matchup against Nikola Jokić and the Denver Nuggets is what prevents Joel Embiid from winning the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award, the 76ers superstar said, “I don’t care.”
Embiid reiterated late Wednesday — after returning from a one-game absence with calf tightness in the Sixers’ 116-108 home win over the Dallas Mavericks — that his priority is being as healthy as possible for the playoffs that begin in about two weeks.
“If one game is going to hurt anybody’s chances, then I guess everybody should be out of it,” Embiid said of the MVP race. “We all have bad games. Guys miss matchups. That’s not the first time. And it’s not really a matchup about me and Nikola. He’s a great player. Amazing player. … He’s one of the best players in the league, and I’m a huge fan.
