Joel Embiid and
Nikola Jokic are the two best bigs in the NBA and have won the last three MVP awards, with two going to Jokic and one going to Embiid. When Joel Embiid missed the game against the Denver Nuggets in Denver on Jan.27th, because of an injury it was the fourth time in a row he has not played in Denver and hasn't played their since 2019.
With him missing that game the question came to be, is he ducking Jokic and is he afraid to play against him in Denver? He has no problem playing Jokic in Philadelphia, however he refuses to play Jokic in Denver.
With the the Philadelphia 76ers preparing to play the Miami Heat in a play-in game on Wednesday April, 17th. Somebody brought up the question to Drew Hanlen, Joel Embiid's trainer, on if he thinks Embiid is ducking when he goes up against Nikola Jokic in Denver?
“We just kind of laugh about it. He’s played Jokic two times in the last two years and he had 47 [points], 18 [rebounds] and five [assists on Jan. 28, 2023. On Jan. 16, 2024], he had 41 [points], 10 [assists] and seven [rebounds]. I don’t know why you would duck somebody that you’re averaging 45, 13 and eight against. If you look at Joel versus other big guys, he’s just dominated them. He had 70 against Victor [Wembanyama]. You look at him versus Rudy Gobert. I don’t know his exact numbers, but he had around 51 [points], 12 [rebounds], and three [assists] on Dec. 20, 2023.”
Joel Embiid's entire career he has dealt with injuries whether they happen in the regular season or post season. He has not played over 70 games in a season for his entire career. The 76ers only play the Nuggets twice in a year and with his dealing with injuries every year, that is probably the reason why he hasn't played in Denver for four years.
Now does it look strange that he hasn't played against Jokic in Denver since 2019, and that injuries aren't always the reason he hasn't played. Yes, but out of the four years some are probably due to injuries and the others are due to the fact that the elevation is the worse in Denver and he just doesn't want to play in that elevation. It is not because he is ducking away from Jokic.
