As the NBA regular season comes to an end in the coming week, the race for the MVP is fiercer than ever, and former Denver Nuggets center Demarcus Cousins seems to have a say in the race.
Though Giannis Antetokounmpo and Luka Doncic were contenders for MVP, the race has narrowed to a two-horse. Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers and Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets are the leading candidates for the award.
Like everyone else, DeMarcus also joined in the debate over who should get the MVP award, and he didn’t choose his former teammate.
Why did Demarcus Cousins choose Joel Embiid as the MVP?
The 32-year-old has played with Nikola since last season when he won the award, and yet he chose Joel as the suitable recipient for the award. In the SiriusXM NBA Radio show hosted by Justin Termine and Eddie Johnson, he expressed his reasons for his opinion.
“This year it goes to Joel, in my opinion,” the four-time NBA all-star said. Mostly, he reasons with the 7-footer’s work ethic and Jokic’s back-to-back wins, which denied the other one twice.
DeMarcus Cousins joined Justin Termine & Eddie Johnson to tell them why he believes Joel Embiid will win MVP over Nikola Jokic
⬇️⬇️⬇️ pic.twitter.com/bQgEKrrLQl— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) April 1, 2023
With all the rivalry aside, for the last couple of seasons, these two centers have been going neck-and-neck for the trophy, and the Serbian got the last laugh both times. But there’s no denying the brilliance of Embiid, and this year the balance is kind of shifting toward him.
However, the debate is also taking a dark turn, and the opinions are coming with toxic reasoning, like the Nuggets star only getting MVP because he is white. On the other hand, as dominant as they both are, some think the 76ers center should get the trophy to represent the black community.
Ignoring all these hypocrisies, if we focus on the stats from this season, ‘the Process’ scored on average 33 points with 8.4 defensive rebounds and 4.1 assists per game while ‘the Joker’ holds 24.9 points with 9.4 defensive rebounds and 9.9 assists so far. So, looking at the statistics, it’s a stalemate.
It also indicates the level of competition between the two and the fact that both athletes are similarly deserving of being named the MVP for the season. Who would you pick as your MVP? Do you agree with Demarcus Cousins? Let us know your opinions in the comments.
