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After being selected third overall by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2014 NBA Draft, Joel Embiid spent the first two seasons of his career in their entirety on the sideline nursing a lingering foot injury. During that time, there were plenty of analysts and others who predicted that Embiid would become the next in a long line of big men whose promising career was derailed by injury issues, and doubted that he would ever even play in a game -- let alone become a dominant two-way star who would go on to win the league's most prestigious individual award. 

When Embiid played just 31 games during his rookie season before again being forced to the bench, that time due to a knee injury, the questions only intensified. There's no need to pull the receipts, but they're out there.

There was plenty of pessimism surrounding the big fella's future, especially in Philadelphia. Embiid heard all that chatter, and as a young player he let it get to him. That outside noise and his uncertain basketball future, coupled with the death of his brother, Arthur, in 2014, forced Embiid to consider walking away from the game before ever scoring a single point for Philadelphia.

"Going back to Cameroon [after the death of his brother], I really wanted to stop playing basketball and really retire," Embiid recollected last season. "Because at that point, you just had surgery and everybody's talking about, 'You're not gonna make it, or you're never going to play in the league.' And obviously, the loss of my brother was big. 

"I wanted to give up and I almost did... Basically, you miss two years in a row and all these stories coming out every single day: 'Joel is, whatever, 300 pounds,' and the media always talking down on you. It was tough. I had to go through a lot. It was very tough, but, I'm glad I just kept pushing through with the help of everybody around me." 

That background makes Embiid's winning of the 2022-23 NBA MVP Award all the more impressive. By taking home the hardware, Embiid became the fifth Sixers player ever to do so, joining Hall of Famers Wilt Chamberlain, Julius Erving, Allen Iverson, and Moses Malone. Out of all the hundreds of international players who have appeared in the NBA over the years, Embiid, from Cameroon, is just the seventh international player to win the honor. 

After finishing as the MVP runner-up to Nikola Jokic in each of the previous two seasons, Embiid came out this season and turned in the best campaign of his career. He led the league in scoring for the second straight season with 33.1 points per performance to go along with 11.7 rebounds, 4.2 assists and consistently dominant defense. He also shot a career high 54 percent from the field.  

After overcoming so much adversity, and coming so close but falling short a couple of times, you just know it meant a whole lot to Embiid to finally hear his name called as the winner of the award.

"It's been a long time coming, a lot of hard work," Embiid said on TNT after winning the award. "I've been through a lot, and I'm not just talking about basketball. I'm talking about everything. Life, my story, where I come from and how I got here and what it took for me to be here. It feels good. I don't know what to say. It's amazing."

The big man deserves a ton of credit for persevering through those early injury issues and turning himself into a polished, well-rounded scorer and a perennial MVP candidate. Similarly, the Sixers as an organization also deserve some props for the patience they practiced. They didn't rush Embiid out on the floor, or give up on him. Instead, they allowed him to progress at his own pace and play when he was ready, and they've been reaping the benefits ever since.

After such a winding, yet rewarding journey, Embiid allowed himself -- and his teammates -- a few minutes to bask in the accomplishment. But that was it, because the freshly minted MVP still has other goals in mind for this season. 

"We will celebrate for five minutes, then we will get back to business," Embiid said. "We have a series to win. I am proud of [my teammates] for winning the first game. And we've got a few more coming."