The NBA’s reigning MVP is once again in superstar form so far in 2023-24. The Philadelphia 76ers‘ big man Joel Embiid won last year’s scoring title by averaging 33.1 points per game and is on track to surpass that mark, and possibly win a second straight MVP honor. There’s still the majority of the season to go, but on Friday he dominated the Pistons in a 124-92 blowout as he racked up 35 points, 13 rebounds, two assists and four blocks — his 10th straight game with 30-plus points. On Saturday, he made that 11 straight with 42 points in 30 minutes against the Charlotte Hornets.
Embiid’s monstrous tear has put him in some elite company, and he’s shown no signs of stopping. With 11 straight games of 30-plus points, he set a franchise record, and, of course, broke his own career high. Embiid is racking up the numbers, in fact he’s scored 752 points in just 746 minutes played so far this season.
In the history of the NBA, only one player — Wilt Chamberlain — has recorded more points than minutes in a year with a minimum of 1,000 points scored during in a single campaign. In the 1961-62 season, Chamberlain’s third year in the league, he scored 4,029 points in 3,882 minutes while playing for the Philadelphia Warriors. That, of course, was the season he, in his age 25 season, averaged an otherworldly 50.4 points per game, while playing a ridiculous 48.5 minutes per contest.
For context, Michael Jordan came close to matching the points-over-minutes feat, coincidentally also in his third year in the league. In the 1986-87 campaign, Jordan’s age 23 season, the Bulls’ star tallied 3,041 points in 3,280 minutes. No other player has ever come closer.
The fact that Embiid is doing this in his age 29 season, his eighth season of playing in the NBA, is worth noting. Embiid’s physicality has been a factor too. He leads the league with 11.6 free-throw attempts per game, and he’s using an 88.7% shooting percentage — the best of his career — to boost those scoring numbers. Overall, in 22 games this season, the 76ers center is averaging 34.2 points per game while playing 33.9 minutes per contest.
Embiid might not play in 80 or more games like Jordan and Chamberlain did in their historic scoring campaigns, nor will he likely rack up the minutes that they did, but ther can be no denying that he has been in rare company this year. Should Embiid continue to dominate, he might just be the one to join Chamberlain in the record books.
