Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid, the leading scorer this season, won the NBA Most Valuable Player trophy for the first time on Tuesday, beating Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets, who had won the award in the two previous years.
The 29-year-old center, originally from Yaoundé, Cameroon, averaged 33.1 points to earn his second consecutive top-scoring title. He averaged 10.2 rebounds and tied his career high with 4.2 assists per game.
Embiid played in 66 games, the second-most of his career, but was hit again by injuries in the playoffs. A right knee sprain already sidelined him from a game in the sweep of Brooklyn in the first round of the postseason and from the first game of the Eastern Conference semifinals against Boston.
Despite the loss, Philadelphia won that game on Monday.
Jokic finished second in the voting, while Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks was third.