Sixers

MVP Voter Kendrick Perkins Says Joel Embiid Ducked Nikola Jokic

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Mar 28th, 2023 · 9:19 AM EDT

---

Normally what Perk says doesn’t matter, but he’s an MVP voter telling us this about Joel Embiid not playing in Denver on Monday night:

"Joel Embiid is ducking that smoke… You cannot sit out this game… When it comes down to these matchups, I have a vote [for MVP]. I'm going to remember this moment."

Kendrick Perkins on Embiid not playing against Nikola Jokic tonight 🗣️pic.twitter.com/nJBypWtdSa

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) March 27, 2023

A quick check of the books has Embiid sitting right around +105 for MVP with Jokic at +110. Joel was -150 on Monday morning and dropped to -130 when it was revealed that he wouldn’t be playing.

The thing about Perk is that he’s been one of Embiid’s top media supporters and even gave him his MVP vote last season.  So when he goes on TV and says:

“When it comes down to these moments and these matchups, I have a vote. I have a vote! And when I go and I vote and I’m looking at MVP and who I’m going to pencil in, I’m going to remember this moment.”

This is what we were talking about on the site Monday. It’s about moments. Media members remember moments. Voters remember moments. They’ll remember Embiid not playing in Denver, which denied us a late-season head-to-head matchup between the #1 and #2 MVP favorites. This game was circled on calendars, we got shortchanged, and it’s going to hurt Embiid’s chances to win the award.