Joel Embiid's trainer debunks 'ducking Nikola Jokic' narrative with stats: "Why'd you duck somebody you're averaging 45,13 and 8 against?"

In recent years, Joel Embiid has been accused of ducking Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets. The theory, which has received some attention online in recent seasons, alleges that the reigning MVP sits out games against rival big man Nikola Jokic. Specifically, the theory centers around the fact that Embiid has missed recent games between the two teams that are contested in Denver.

For example, this season, while Embiid played in the Philadelphia 76ers game against the Nuggets on Jan. 16 at home, he missed the Jan. 27 game in Denver. Despite the fact that Embiid has appeared to have legitimate reasons for missing a number of games on the road.

This has, of course, created a strong argument that there's no truth to the theory that Joel Embiid purposely misses games in Denver. For example, this season, while dealing with swelling in his knee prior to tearing his meniscus, Embiid adamantly wanted to play despite not being near 100% according to ESPN.

In a recent interview with Sportskeeda conducted by Mark Medina, Embiid's trainer Drew Hanlen opened up on the theory that Embiid ducks Jokic in Denver.

“We just kind of laugh about it. He’s played Jokic two times in the last two years and he had 47, 18, and five, he had 41, 10 and seven," Hanlen said. "I don’t know why you would duck somebody that you’re averaging 45, 13 and eight against."

"If you look at Joel versus other big guys, he’s just dominated them," he added. "Joel loves playing the best big guys in the world. Any time he’s healthy enough to play against them, he’s going to be out there.”

Looking at Joel Embiid's recent performances against Nikola Jokic

As Drew Hanlen explained, Joel Embiid has put on some impressive performances against Nikola Jokic in recent years. For example, as Hanlen indicated, in the most recent meeting, Embiid scored 41 points and 10 assists along with seven rebounds.

In that game, Jokic notably dropped a double-double of his own with 25 points and 19 rebounds, however, he struggled from downtown, shooting 0-2 in the 126-121 loss.

The prior meeting between the two, which took place last season, saw Embiid drop a 47-point, 18-rebound double-double while the 76ers picked up a 126-119 win. In that case, Jokic scored 24 points while logging eight rebounds and nine assists, with many considering Embiid to have won the head-to-head matchup.

Despite these two dominant performances over the past two seasons, Embiid missed a Jan. 27 meeting in Denver as previously mentioned. At the time, a small number of fans who supported the theory suggested Embiid was ducking Jokic in Denver.

In reality, Embiid missed two games and then returned for a Jan. 30 meeting with the Golden State Warriors, before being forced to undergo surgery for a torn meniscus. Given the severity of the situation behind the scenes, the theory that Embiid was ducking Jokic certainly had no credibility.

Looking back at the previous season, Embiid performed well against Nuggets early in the season; however, he missed a March 27 meeting in Denver. At the time, he was fresh off an injury scare in the team's March 22 meeting with the Chicago Bulls just two games prior that saw him log just 16 minutes.

After being ruled out for the Denver matchup with a calf strain, Embiid then missed two of the team's final seven games of the season. In addition, he also missed Game 4 of the 76ers' first-round matchup with the Brooklyn Nets and the first game of the 76ers' second-round series with the Celtics.