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Joel Embiid was presented with the 2023 NBA MVP trophy on Friday ahead of Game 3 of the Philadelphia 76ers' second-round playoff series against the Boston Celtics. The pre-game ceremony was led by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and featured Embiid's teammates and family as well. 

The most touching moment came when Embiid's young son, Arthur, ran across the court to hug him, which sent the big man into tears. "Honestly, he's the main reason why I'm really here," Embiid said. "Becoming a father changed my whole life. I just wanted to show him a good example, and I'm glad he's here with us."

Embiid, who received 73 of a possible 100 first-place votes, led the Sixers to the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference, averaged a league-best 33.1 points per game to go along with 11.7 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game while anchoring the NBA's No. 8 ranked regular-season defense. He is currently attempting to win his first championship, which would be Philadelphia's first since winning it all in 1983.

Embiid has notably finished as the runner-up in voting in each of the past two seasons. In both races, he lost out to Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic. That created something of a rivalry between the two, as Embiid seemingly took a few shots at Jokic as this season progressed.

Jokic was the betting favorite for most of this season in what eventually became a three-man race between the two of them and Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo. However, Embiid pulled away late as his individual numbers soared while Jokic's Nuggets struggled as a team. After Embiid scored 52 points on 20-of-25 shooting against the Boston Celtics in the last week of the regular season, 76ers coach Doc Rivers declared the MVP race "over."

He turned out to be right. While the Vegas odds had remained quite close to that point, Embiid became the heavy favorite at that point. He never conceded that position, and today was crowned as the 2022-23 MVP. Embiid is now the fifth 76er to win the award, joining Wilt Chamberlain, who won it three times as a Sixer, along with Julius Erving (1981), Moses Malone (1983) and Allen Iverson (2001). Teammate James Harden won the award in 2018 as a member of the Houston Rockets.

Embiid's ascent makes him the second consecutive center to win the award, following Jokic's two victories. Consider the two that Antetokounmpo won beforehand, the last five MVP awards have now gone to players widely treated as big men. This is a stark change from the past decade or so of NBA history, as before Antetokounmpo, the previous 11 winners were all perimeter players.

While he had publicly denied caring about whether or not he won the award for much of the past few seasons, he finally admitted that it mattered to him in an interview with Showtime's Rachel Nichols. "One thing I'll say is that if people tell you that they don't care about it, they're lying, Embiid said. "That's the best award you can get as a basketball player, it means a lot. If I were to win it, it would validate all the work that I put in. That's why I cared about it, because you put in so much work and if you get that recognition, it just validates that you didn't waste your time."

Now Embiid finally has the award that he coveted, but he has a far greater prize to seek. While Embiid called the MVP the best award you can get as a basketball player, most would agree that the Finals MVP trophy is a far greater trophy. Embiid has a chance to secure that in the coming months, and if he does, this will go down as one of the greatest overall seasons in NBA history.