4 reasons Joel Embiid should be NBA Rookie of the Year
Joel Embiid played only 31 games in his rookie season. Just 786 minutes. He still has the strongest case to win NBA Rookie of the Year, no matter how unprecedented that would be.
Reason No. 1: Look at these stats
Embiid’s stats in his first season — 20 points per game, almost eight rebounds per game, and 2.5 blocks per game — are comparable only to rookies who went on to become Hall of Famers. And unlike those guys, Embiid put up star-level stats under a minutes limit — he averaged just 25 per game.
Reason No. 2: His minutes limit is actually impressive!
Embiid played only 786 minutes over 31 games — that’s like, half of each game. And even under that limit, he still produced like a star. He averaged 20.2 points per game. He still blocked more shots per game than anyone but Rudy Gobert. He was still in the top 10 in free throw attempts per game! That’s like getting the perfect 8-minute abs in only 4 minutes.
Reason No. 3: The competition isn’t good enough
After Embiid went down with a torn meniscus at the end of January, the field was open for another rookie to snatch his award ... but it just didn’t really happen. Plenty of rookies had promising seasons (or halves of seasons) — Malcolm Brogdon, Marquese Chriss, Brandon Ingram, Jaylen Brown, Willy Hernangomez, Buddy Hield, Dario Saric — but nothing quite on par with prior Rookies of the Year, and none with as much cultural force as Embiid’s rising star.
Reason No. 4: The people deserve Joel Embiid, ROY
Remember that debut, and all the “Trust the Process” excitement, and Embiid’s magical Twitter account, and all that dancing?
2017 was all about Joel Embiid.
It’s definitely unusual and unprecedented, but Joel Embiid should be NBA Rookie of the Year.
