If I am unable to reach the game requirement for MVP, then so be it, says Joel Embiid

Joel Embiid, the reigning league MVP, returned from his latest injury to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 124-115 victory over the Houston Rockets on Monday night.

Embiid’s 17 consecutive games with 30 points is a club record. He has seven 40-point double-doubles this season, the most in the NBA. Embiid now has 42 games with at least 40 points and 10 rebounds, which is the seventh-most in NBA history.

His absences, however, have piled up, jeopardizing his chances of winning another MVP award. He can only miss eight more games out of 44 total before he is no longer eligible for MVP.

“It doesn’t matter how many games I play; the goal is to be healthy the rest of the year,” Embiid told reporters on Monday.

Embiid’s health is, of course, critical for a Philadelphia team hoping to make a long postseason run. Embiid has never had a totally healthy playoff campaign, which is why the organization has yet to go beyond the second round during his career.

To be eligible for accolades such as MVP or All-NBA teams, players must typically participate in 65 regular-season games under the current collective bargaining agreement. Embiid, who is in his eighth NBA season, has only reached that mark twice: in 2021-22, when he played a career-high 68 games, and last season, when he earned his first MVP award.

“I’ve already done it,” Embiid explained. “If I can get a second one, I’ll take it. I am not going to force myself or push for it. My game will always speak for itself. We are winning. That’s the important point. We have to keep winning, and putting in the stats to be in the [MVP] debate is nice as well. But, at the end of the day, if something comes up and I can’t satisfy the threshold for the number of games played to qualify, so be it.”

The 76ers went 1-2 after Embiid, 29, missed the previous three games due to left knee soreness. He has only played two games this month after missing all four games during the 76ers’ Christmas road trip.

The Sixers are 3-7 this season without Embiid, the two-time defending league scoring champion, but 22-6 with him.

When healthy — or healthy enough — Embiid makes the game appear simple and the Sixers look like contenders. If his knee was still sore on Monday, it didn’t show in a 13-point first quarter. Embiid seemed OK as he sank another 13 in the second quarter and collected his tenth rebound in the fourth before going out for good with the Sixers leading 114-94.

“We look at the long run and what’s coming up next,” Embiid said in a statement. “Hopefully it doesn’t swell up again.”

Embiid said he’ll be ready for his 29th game of the season on Tuesday, a home game against two-time MVP Nikola Jokic and the reigning champion Denver Nuggets. Embiid, who missed his first two seasons due to injury, was chastised by some media last March after sitting out against the Nuggets with a strained right calf. Jokic scored 25 and 17 in a Denver victory.

“Joel Embiid is ducking that smoke today, and you all know how I feel about Joel Embiid,” ESPN commentator and former NBA center Kendrick Perkins remarked.

Embiid ignored such criticism last year, and more has appeared this season as his absences have increased, saying he’ll play when he’s healthy enough.

He also downplayed Tuesday was a Jokic-Embiid showdown. The attention ought to be on the 76ers vs the Nuggets.

“They’re best team in the league, best player in the league and we’ve got to try and do our best to get a win,” he told reporters. “It’s fun. I enjoy the competition. “Who wouldn’t want to play against the best?”