Why Jokic is better than Embiid: a thread

November 8, 2019: Nuggets vs 76ers. Nuggets are down 21 in the 4th quarter, Embiid absolutely chokes, missing shot after shot and even multiple free throws. Jokic leads the Nuggets on a comeback and hits a game winner to take the game

2018-19 Playoffs: we all know what happened in the playoffs. Jokic rose to the occasion, putting the team on his back in his first ever playoff run, averaging 25/13/8 while going to 7 games in the second round. Embiid, on the other hand, choked...

Putting up just 20/10/3, while shooting an atrocious 42.8% from the field. And even look at their teammates. Jamal Murray was the only Nugget who really stepped up besides Jokic. Embiid had Ben Simmons, Jimmy Butler, and Tobias Harris. One of which was an all-star, and the...

Other 2 were arguably the biggest all star snubs. Simply put, when on the biggest stage, Jokic played at the highest level. Embiid shrunk and couldn’t handle the pressure

Defense: People highly praise Embiid’s defense, and rightfully so, he’s a great defender. But what I don’t understand is the hate on Jokic’s defense. Jokic is a good defender. Lets start with blocks and steals. Essentially, both blocks and steals end possessions

Theoretically, the offense can recover a blocked shot, but steals are only counted when the defense gains possession, so it seems steals are more valuable. Jokic averages 1.2 steals, and 0.7 blocks. Embiid averages 0.9 steals and 1.3 blocks.

We determined that steals are likely more valuable than blocks, so these numbers don’t seem all that different from each other, though I’d still say Embiid has the advantage. Now, lets dive into some advanced stats, because steals and blocks are far from telling the whole story

Looking at individual defensive rating, which is not very ideal, but still gives a good idea, Embiid is slightly better at 104 with Jokic at 106. Moving on to defensive box plus/minus (DBPM), Jokic has the advantage, with a DBPM of 2.3 vs Embiid with 1.2.

Now moving to Defensive win shares. Jokic also has the advantage here, with 3.2 vs Embiid’s 2.4. Although, one flaw with this stat is that it does take into account minutes, and Jokic has a lot more minutes, which leads me to my next point:

The best ability in the NBA is arguably availability. Jokic blows Embiid out of the water here. Embiid’s most played games in a season is just 64, while Jokic already played 65 this year before the season was postponed. Embiid is hardly able to stay on the floor...

And he was even sick in the playoffs last year. How can someone hardly able to stay on the court be a better player?

Offense: Both Jokic and Embiid are elite scorers at the center position, but what separates them is obviously Jokic’s passing ability. They both have similar scoring averages, but Embiid does have a 3 point advantage. Embiid also shoots 4.6 more FTs a game

With some basic math, of Jokic shot 4.6 more FTs a game at his current percentage, he would score about 3.7 more points per game, putting him at 23.9 PPG, surpassing Embiid. But that’s besides the point, as it’s all just hypothetical.

Moving on to the real stats, Jokic simply scores more efficiently from literally everywhere on the court except for 3 pointers. Also looking at post ups, Jokic shoots 5% better. Jokic is simply a better scorer from everywhere on the court except for 3 pointers

As for advanced stats, Jokic still is far better in these categories. He has on offensive rating of 119 with Embiid at 114. He has 6.0 offensive win shares vs Embiid’s 3.2. And he also has an OBPM of 5.4 and Embiid is at 4.1.

Lastly for offense, lets look at their total point outputs. From Jokic’s 6.9 assists per game, he creates 17.0 points. From Embiid’s 3.1 assists per game, he creates 7.8 points per game. Adding Jokic’s 17.0 to his scoring of 20.2, he creates 37.2 points per game

For Embiid, he creates 31.3 PPG. Jokic is simply the more impactful offensive player. And also, lets not forget Embiid scored 0 points in a game. And when Embiid isn’t scoring, he really doesn’t provide much else on offense. He only even had 2 assists that game.

There’s not much to cover for rebounds, Embiid grabs more, that’s about all there is to it.

Jokic is the 3rd leading clutch scorer in the NBA, and has hit game winner after game winner, including one against Embiid and the 76ers. But, we can’t ignore that Embiid himself is also quite clutch, putting up great numbers in the clutch this season as well.

Success: to finish this up, lets just look at their respective success. Jokic has much less help around him, and yet he still is leading his team plagued by injuries to a top spot in the western conference. To be fair, the Sixers have also dealt with injuries...

As both the Nuggets and 76ers have nearly the same games missed due to injury this year. The difference is, Jokic has led his team through it, and Embiid is actually the one missing many games. Jokic leads his team to more success, as evidenced with this season, and even going...

Back to last year’s playoffs. Jokic is a better basketball player than Joel Embiid, as evidenced with everything I’ve shown in this thread. Thanks for reading