Joel Embiid received flak late last season for allegedly ducking Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets in what would have been a showdown of the league's top centers.
The Philadelphia 76ers star eventually won the Most Valuable Award over Jokic, who already got two.
Fast forward to their new meeting (January 16), Embiid was made aware of the allegations about him. Is he really ducking Jokic?
"I saw it," he told reporters when asked about takes on him missing important matchups.
"But I can't control if I get sick, if I get the flu or whatever. Can't control that. Can't control if my knee is gonna swell up. It just happened. It was against New Orleans and Boston. I got the flu. Obviously, you can't go."
Right now, it seems he is a go against the Nuggets. However, Denver appears to be trolling him as they listed their two-time MVP as among the questionable for the game against the Sixers.
Both have a case to be hailed as the best player in the league right now so it is only fitting that they meet each other on the court.
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Their plays on the court will decide who is the better player. It remains to be seen.
How about the stats? Take a look at how Embiid and Jokic compare in major statistical categories.
Joel Embiid vs Nikola Jokic stats comparison
Scoring
Joel Embiid is a two-time scoring champion and has scored in the Top 5 in the last four seasons.
He averaged more than 30 points in the last three seasons, joining Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bob McAdoo, and James Harden as the only players to do so in consecutive seasons.
Jokic, who has a career average of 20.2 ppg, has an arsenal of weapons when it comes to scoring, too, but for this part, Embiid takes it.
Winner: Joel Embiid
Defending
Detractors point to the two's defense as the hole in their game, but that is untrue.
What Jokic does on the defensive end may not show on the stat sheet, but he can control the game by shouting commands to his teammates. He points to them the right angles where they need to be. He also predicts where the ball would go or where an opponent would go to receive the pass.
He is not the best one-on-one defender, but his basketball IQ more than makes up for his lack of speed and jump.
Against Joel Embiid, he can get up there to block shots, but when it comes to overall defense, Jokic has him beat.
Embiid currently has a defensive rating of 106.7, while Jokic has 109.3. The former played fewer games, too.
Winner: Jokic
Assist
Nikola Jokic is arguably the best passing big man in NBA history. He was just .2 shy of averaging double digits in assists last season.
Embiid has yet to average more than five assists in his career.
Winner: Jokic
Head-to-head results
Embiid and Jokic have met seven times in their career, and the former won five times, averaging 25.7 points per game.
Jokic averaged 21.9 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 7.4 assists in those seven games.
Winner: Embiid
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