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Joel Embiid named to All-NBA second team behind Jokic, Giannis, and Tatum

The 76ers’ star was the second-team center selection behind the Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic, who also recently beat out Embiid for the MVP award for the second consecutive season.

Sixers center Joel Embiid finished behind Nikola Jokic of the Nuggets for first-team All-NBA center.
Sixers center Joel Embiid finished behind Nikola Jokic of the Nuggets for first-team All-NBA center.Read moreYONG KIM / Staff Photographer

Joel Embiid was voted to the All-NBA second team, the league announced Tuesday night.

The 76ers’ star was the second-team center selection behind the Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic, as voted on by media who cover the league. Jokic also beat out Embiid for the Most Valuable Player Award for the second consecutive season. Embiid received 57 first-team votes — by far the most of any player on the second team — and 43 second-team votes, while Jokic garnered 88 first-team votes and 12 second-team votes. Both players were eligible at center and forward.

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Embiid put together a fabulous regular season, becoming the first center since Shaquille O’Neal in 1999-2000 to lead the NBA in scoring (30.6 points per game) while also averaging 11.7 rebounds, a career-high 4.2 assists per game, and 1.5 blocks per game. Embiid’s dominance on both ends of the floor anchored a Sixers team that tied for the Eastern Conference’s second-best regular-season record (51-31) while navigating the Ben Simmons saga and the blockbuster trade for James Harden.

Embiid also played a career-high 68 regular-season games, including 60 of 64 contests from late November until the end of the regular season. During the playoffs, however, Embiid suffered a torn ligament in his right thumb, an orbital fracture near his eye, and a concussion that hampered him during the Sixers’ second-round exit.

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This is the fourth time that Embiid has been named to an All-NBA team, joining Hall of Famers Charles Barkley, Wilt Chamberlain, Billy Cunningham, Julius Erving, Hal Greer, Allen Iverson, and Dolph Schayes as the franchise’s players to accomplish that feat. Embiid has been selected to the second team all four times.

The 2021-22 All-NBA teams:

  1. First team: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Devin Booker, Luka Doncic, Jayson Tatum, and Jokic.

  2. Second team: Stephen Curry, DeMar DeRozan, Kevin Durant, Ja Morant, and Embiid.

  3. Third team: LeBron James, Chris Paul, Pascal Siakam, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Trae Young

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