Joel Embiid had one of the greatest scoring seasons in NBA history.
Joel Embiid took home the scoring crown for the 2021-2022 campaign, averaging 30.6 points per game. He was the only player that season to finish with an average above 30 points, coming out just ahead of Giannis Antetokounmpo, who finished second, averaging 29.9 per game.
It was truly a landmark season for the big man, who became the first center since Shaquille O’Neal in 1999-2000 to lead the league in scoring. In fact, he was the first center since Moses Malone during the 81-82 campaign to average more than 30 points per contest. Bob McAdoo, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain and Walt Bellamy are the only others at the position to accomplish the feat.
Notably, Embiid achieved this with consistency. He posted just one 50-point performance on the season, which came on Jan. 19, 2022, in a victory over the Magic, which saw him shoot 17-for-23 from the field and 15-for-17 from the charity stripe. He also never scored less than 13 points and scored at least 20 in 58 of the 68 games he played.
Perhaps no greater symbol of his consistency in the scoring column was from Jan. 3 through Jan. 12, when he scored exactly 31 points for five straight games. He would finish the month of January never scoring less than 25 points, and leading the 76ers to a 12-3 record, while averaging 34.0 points per game to start the calendar year.
Embiid would continue to deliver on the scoreboard in the months ahead, averaging 32.5 points in February, 30.5 in March, and finishing the season with 37.8 in five April matchups, helping to secure the scoring title.
The 76ers would finish 4th in the East, with a 51-31 record. In the first round of the playoffs, Embiid suffered an orbital fracture and a concussion after getting hit in the face with an elbow by Pascal Siakam. Despite the injury, Philadelphia was still able to advance in 7 games over Toronto, while Embiid managed to average 22.4 points per game in the series. Unfortunately, though, the injury forced Embiid to miss the first two games of their second-round matchup with Miami, and when Embiid returned for Game 3, they were already in an 0-2 hole and lost the series in six.
Although it was a statistically elite season for Embiid, who also led the league in free throws made and attempted, while finishing fifth in rebounds per game, it wasn’t the end he desired. Aside from the second-round exit, he would finish second in the Kia MVP voting to Nikola Jokić, as well as Second-Team All-NBA. However, his overall dominance in 2022 helped to further his reputation and skill set, setting the stage for an even better 2022-23 season where he once again led the league in scoring and took home the Kia NBA MVP trophy.
