About two minutes into his MVP speech Thursday night, as packed Wells Fargo Center chants subsided and it was just Joel Embiid, the Michael Jordan Trophy and a microphone, the emotions began to overwhelm the 76ers star.
Embiid waved for his 2-year-old son, Arthur — “he’s somewhere,” Embiid said, and then his son, wearing an MVP-themed top, sprinted over to the 7-foot star.
That moment, that embrace, that interaction caused Embiid to start tearing up, and Arthur took control of the spotlight even after Embiid continued.
“Becoming a father changed my whole life, and I just wanted to show him a good example — and I’m glad he’s here with us,” Embiid said during his MVP speech.
Embiid was presented with his MVP award — alongside NBA commissioner Adam Silver, his parents and others — ahead of Game 3 between the Celtics and 76ers, which Boston won, 114-102, to take a 2-1 series lead.
Nuggets star Nikola Jokic had won the last two MVP awards and again emerged as a candidate during the 2022-23 season, but Embiid won another NBA scoring title, compiled 73 first-place votes and claimed the honor over Jokic (15) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (12).
By winning the MVP award, Embiid, who scored 30 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in 39 minutes in the 76ers’ Game 3 loss, now joins Allen Iverson, Julius Erving, Moses Malone and Wilt Chamberlain on the list of 76ers to earn that honor, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
He averaged a career-best 33.1 points per game during the regular season, along with 10.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game.
Then, once the playoffs arrived, Embiid missed the last game of Philadelphia’s first-round series against Brooklyn and the opening game of their second-round series against the Celtics.
He returned for Game 2 on Tuesday and contributed 15 points in 26 minutes.