NBA MVP: 76ers’ Embiid wins league’s top individual honor

Philadelphia 76ers center and league scoring champion Joel Embiid earned his first NBA MVP trophy Tuesday night, topping two-time winner Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets. The 29-year-old from Yaoundé, Cameroon, averaged 33.1 points to win his second straight scoring title, averaged 10.2 rebounds and tied a career high with 4.2 assists per game. Embiid played in 66 games, the second-highest total of his career, but again has been hit with injuries in the playoffs.

Embiid has been sidelined with a sprained right knee that cost him one game of the playoff sweep against Brooklyn and the opening game of the Eastern Conference semifinals against Boston which was won by Philadelphia on Monday night. Jokic finished runner-up and Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks was third. Embiid received 73 first-place votes.

Jokic received 15 first-place votes, and Antetokounmpo got 12. “It’s been a long time coming,” Embiid said. “A lot of hard work.

I’ve been through a lot. I’m not just talking about basketball. I’m talking about my life.

My story. Where I come from. How I got here and what it took for me to be here.” The 76ers watched on TV in Boston and erupted in applause and started chanting “MVP! MVP!” as the big man buried his head in his hands.

He then vowed “I’ll be back” for the playoff series against the Celtics. Embiid has been determined to win — and campaigned for — the MVP trophy for years. The third overall pick of the 2014 draft, Embiid missed his first two full seasons with injuries before settling in as one of the top big men of his generation.

He was at his best this season when he totaled three 50-point games, including a career-high 59 against Utah in November. He had 13 total 40-point games. When Embiid