Lakers' Austin Reaves: Nikola Jokić Should've Won NBA MVP over 76ers' Joel Embiid

Count Austin Reaves among the players who think Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid shouldn't have been named the 2022-23 NBA MVP.

Speaking on the Full Send Podcast (23:30-24:30 mark), Reaves said that he believes Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokić should have taken home the honor.

"The way that he plays is so unique for a big man. But obviously, Joel's really good and dominates the game in just a different facet," Reaves said. "It's just Jokic—I think we were going back to the MVP—I think it was just voter's fatigue."

Jokić won back-to-back MVP awards in 2021 and 2022, so a number of people, including Reaves, thought he didn't win the award last season because voters wanted to see someone new receive the honor.

Jokić had an impressive 2022-23 campaign, averaging 24.5 points, 11.8 rebounds, 9.8 assists and 1.3 steals in 69 games while shooting 63.2 percent from the floor and 38.3 percent from deep.

However, Embiid also put together the best season of his career and was very deserving of the honor. He averaged 33.1 points, 10.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.7 blocks in 66 games while shooting 54.8 percent from the floor and 33.0 percent from beyond the arc.

While the consensus seems to be that Jokić is the better player, especially after leading the Nuggets to an NBA title, that shouldn't discredit what Embiid was able to accomplish.

Also, the last player to win three straight MVP awards was Larry Bird between 1984 and 1986, so the feat is extremely difficult to achieve.