Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid was named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player, the league announced on TNT on Tuesday.

Embiid garnered 73 first-place votes from a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters, beating out reigning two-time winner Nikola Jokic. Milwaukee Bucks forward and former MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo finished third.

Embiid finished runner-up to Jokic in MVP voting each of the last two seasons.

 
PLAYER TEAM 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH 5TH TOTAL PTS
J. Embiid PHI 73 25 2 0 0 915
N. Jokic DEN 15 52 32 0 0 674
G. Antetokounmpo MIL 12 23 65 0 0 606
J. Tatum BOS 0 0 1 89 8 280
S. Gilgeous-Alexander OKC 0 0 0 6 28 46

The Cameroonian center becomes the second African-born player to win the league’s most coveted individual honor and the first Philadelphia 76ers player to accomplish the feat since Allen Iverson in 2000-01.

Embiid led the league in scoring for a second successive campaign (33.1 points per game) on 55-33-86 splits and was elite at the defensive end. He also finished seventh in the Association in rebounding (10.2 RPG) and averaged a career-best 4.2 assists across 66 outings.

The 29-year-old had 13 performances of 40-plus points this season – tied for third with Donovan Mitchell – and was one of just four players to record three or more 50-point outings. Only six players scored more points in the clutch than Embiid and only two registered more blocks. His plus-minus in clutch scenarios led all players.

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