Fresh off his win, Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers lost to the Boston Celtics after seven games with Embiid shooting 5-for-18 in Game 7.
Jokic, on the other hand, led the Denver Nuggets to a sweep against the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals.
This latest performance by Jokic had Shaq O’Neal speaking up. In ‘The Big Podcast with Shaq’, he said:
“Joker is the best center…He’s changed the game of basketball, but he is playing like, I think a new-wave center should play. Five years ago all the centers were just shooting jumpers…Joker is the best big man and he’d proven that.”
“He’s still here…listen, there was a lot of people that were MVP over me, ain’t no way they’re better than me. Some people got three MVPs and I got one and Kobe got one so would you say those players are better than me and Kobe? I doubt it.”
“Matter of fact, I know they ain’t. Embiid is the MVP, but in those playoffs, all the highlights we showed was him shooting jumpers. That’s the definition I think of what a new age center should do. I see him and it’s not 3s, 3s, 3s, pick-and-pop, pick-and-pop. Joker? You see it all.”
O’Neal’s comments do appear to have some merit. Embiid averaged 23.7 points and 9.8 rebounds while shooting 43.1% from the floor and 17.9% from deep in the playoffs. While Jokic had 29.9 points, 10.3 assists, and 13.3 rebounds while shooting 53.8% from the floor and 47.4% from deep during this postseason run.
Granted, Embiid was dealing with an LCL sprain.