Joel Embiid Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Joel Embiid responds to NBA star’s MVP diss with monster game

By Max Steele | Last updated 3/25/23

Joel Embiid must've watched “The Last Dance,” because he just quoted Michael Jordan.

The Philadelphia 76ers big man dropped 46 points, eight assists and nine rebounds in a 120-112 loss to the Warriors Friday night. Golden State's Draymond Green revealed what the MVP favorite said to him postgame.

"[Embiid] said, 'You know why I played like that tonight? You said [Nikola Jokic] was the hardest person to guard in the league. So I took that personal," Green recalled.

The former Defensive Player of the Year retracted his previous take, now claiming "Joel is the hardest guy to guard in the league."

Embiid heard Draymond say Jokić is the hardest player to guard and took it personal pic.twitter.com/pClUDaCgUU
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) March 25, 2023

Draymond defended Jokic when the Nuggets center's MVP case was slammed with a "stat-padding narrative." But the Warriors forward believes that Embiid's recent play has separated him as the race leader.

Draymond believes Embiid's play in the last couple weeks has created separation in the MVP race pic.twitter.com/t2aSMhG1Wz
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) March 25, 2023

This season, Embiid averages a league-high 33.4 points and has the most 30-point games. He also averages 10.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists while shooting 54.7% from the field.

On Friday, he joined Celtics' Jayson Tatum as the only players to rack up 2,000+ points this season, according to StatMuse.

Joel Embiid was in takeover mode tonight

46 points
9 rebounds
8 assists

Sixers fell to Golden State on the road pic.twitter.com/KXn0voSpJv
— NBA (@NBA) March 25, 2023

With only a handful of games left, the MVP race looks like it will come down to the wire. Embiid currently leads Jokic and Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo in the NBA's latest ranking.

With Jokic set to face the Warriors during the final stretch, we might be in for a treat with another "I took that personal" game following Green's latest switch up.

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