You can say that Cameroonian, Joel Embiid, was born to be a basketball player. After all, he is 7 feet tall and weighs 250 pounds and he is hurt. Unfortunately, he is once again being sidelined with an injury. His one season at the University of Kansas was abbreviated because he had a stress fracture in his back.
Embiid was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers with the third pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, but would not play the whole season because of a broken bone in his foot. Due to less healing than anticipated, he had a second surgery on the same foot which resulted in him missing the entire 2015-2016 season also.
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Expectations were high going into this season for Joel and he has put up numbers that resemble a first round draft pick. He is averaging 20.2 points and 7.8 rebounds per game, in minute-limitations. On February 11, 2017, it was discovered that Embiid has a torn meniscus in his left knee and because of swelling he is forced to sit out the rest of the season. As a result, his rookie season is being cut short. There has been a debate among analyst as to whether he is worthy of the NBA Rookie of Year award because of the limited time on the court, only playing about 30% of the 82 game season.
What is the criteria for the Rookie of the Year Award? That’s technically a rhetorical question. The only criteria is to actually step on the court in a official regular season game in your first season.
The other candidates for the award are Malcolm Brogdon (9.8 points/2 rebounds per game), Dario Saric (11.3 points/6.2 rebounds per game), Marquese Chriss (7.9 points/3.6 rebounds per game), and Buddy Hield (8.9 points/2.9 rebounds per game).
Although it’s typically for the award to be given out to a player who has completed a full season, there were a few to slip through the crack. The New York Knicks Hall of Fame center, Patrick Ewing, received the award while only playing 50 games his rookie season. The other player was Vince Carter in which he too only played 50 games in his Rookie of the Year season, however, it was due to the 1999 lockout-shortened year.
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Let’s Debate! Tell me what you think!
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Despite missing more than half of the season, does Joel Embiid deserves to win the NBA Rookie of the Year?
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No poll results due to no votes cast in the allowed time–we will run poll again at a later date. However, feel free to continue your debate by leaving a comment or share link to your favorite social site.
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