I’m 12. Joel Embiid will always be my MVP

I didn’t start my life as a sports fan. When the Phillies won the World Series, I was only seven weeks old. And I couldn’t care less about the Eagles (sorry, football fans).

But that all changed when I was five. Because that’s when I learned about Joel Embiid.

My dad loves watching basketball, and I would sometimes watch with him. I remember seeing this tall young man on TV and asked my dad who #21 was. My dad, always dramatic when it comes to basketball, told me and my sister that he was the player Philadelphia had been waiting for.

I soon figured out that Joel Embiid was a true underdog. At 7′, he was brimming with potential, and his college highlights showed a lot of skill. But he was injured, and it took two years and two foot surgeries before he finally donned our jersey.

We all know what happens next. He averaged 20.2 points and 2.5 blocks his first season. The entertaining feuds with Marcus Smart. The hilarious and constant Twitter trolling. Asking to be introduced as Joel ‘The Process’ Embiid.

By now I was in 4th grade and my interest in basketball had skyrocketed, thanks to Embiid, and I started to play in a youth league. Just like him, my team made it to the championship. Then we lost to a last minute game winning shot. I was crushed.

But it prepared me for the 2018-2019 season. Like so many Philadelphians, I watched our last playoff game against Toronto from the edge of my couch, holding on to every play, wishing as hard as I could that we would win. We were tied 90-90 at the buzzer when Toronto put up one final shot; I remember watching the ball bounce four times on the rim, then slowly fall in. Joel Embiid cried. I cried. My dad attempted to comfort me by telling me “Now you’re an official Philadelphia sports fan.”

Still, watching Embiid and the Sixers pick themselves up and try again next season showed me how to keep trying, even when you’re beat down. (I used that lesson when I started at a new middle school last year in the height of the pandemic. Just imagine how hard that was.)

I thought of this last week when the Sixers lost to Miami Heat, and news broke that Embiid will, once again, be passed over for MVP.

“To me, this — coming so close but failing in the end — is the core of being a Philadelphian.”

To me, this — coming so close but failing in the end — is the core of being a Philadelphian. Our talent and potential are unrecognized every time, so the rest of the country sees us as jerky losers. But we never give up hope that this time, this season, things will be different.

Sure, Philly is having a bit of a moment right now. “Abbott Elementary” is one of the best shows on TV because it shows how different Philadelphians work together to overcome the chaos of living here. Plus, Questlove just won an Oscar, which is pretty cool.

Still, every time we get passed over for something we deserve, it hurts. And come on, Embiid deserves the MVP.

» READ MORE: The Sixers’ Joel Embiid got robbed of NBA MVP — again. He’s never going to win.

He led the NBA in scoring this year, averaging 30.6 points per game. He kept the team competitive even when another supposed star, Ben Simmons, refused to play. And he never lost his Philly spirit, maintaining his infamous trolling on Twitter. And he led the 76ers in their tight playoff series, even with a broken face and injured thumb.

And me? Now that I’m almost 13, I’m not sure if I want to be the underdog anymore. I want the happy ending. I want the parade. I wanted Joel to get the MVP so that he can finally have the recognition he deserves, the Process could be completed, and the country can see us for the champions we really are.

Maybe next year.

Grace Herold is in sixth grade at the Girard Academic Music Program.