KD backs Embiid over Jokic in tight MVP race

Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant is backing Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid to claim this season's MVP award.

"If I had to choose, I would go Joel Embiid," Durant told reporters Tuesday, according to ESPN's Nick Friedell. "He led the league in scoring, double-doubles, his team won 50 games this year. Numbers were incredible. It's a great year.

"But you can just close your eyes and just pick any one of the guys, out of the top six or seven and you can have a good MVP this year. That shows how great our league is right now and how talented our league is from top to bottom."

Embiid registered a career-high 30.6 points per contest to win his first scoring title this season. He's the first center since Shaquille O'Neal in 2000 to lead the Association in scoring. The five-time All-Star also finished first in free-throw attempts (803), fifth in rebounds (11.7 per game), and ninth in blocks (1.5).

Meanwhile, Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic also made a strong case for his second straight MVP award in the absence of co-stars Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. The Serbian averaged 27.1 points, 13.8 boards, 7.9 assists, and 1.5 steals across 74 appearances this season. He sits seventh on the NBA's all-time leaderboard for triple-doubles after posting a league-leading 19 in 2021-22.

While Durant recognized Jokic for another tremendous showing, he doesn't believe the Nuggets big man did enough to repeat as MVP.

"(To) get two in a row, you got to go up and do something way bigger and better than you did before. ... If you're going to do the same thing you did before, you might as well go ahead and have another winner," Durant said.

"So I think back-to-back MVPs are special, and the season that you have to have team-wise, individual-wise, all has to come together in order for you to win back-to-back, in my opinion. So I feel like Jokic (had) an incredible season, but Joel's season was just as good, if not better. So I think he deserves MVP."