“Joel is understanding what a MVP should be, I always thought he was the baddest guy in the league” - Shaquille O’Neal says he’s proud of Joel Embiid, endorses him for MVP

Legendary big man Shaquille O’Neal endorsed Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid as the MVP on Thursday on ESPN's "NBA Today."

Embiid drained a game-winning 3-pointer with 0.8 seconds remaining to lift Philadelphia past the Toronto Raptors 104-101 in overtime on Wednesday night. The victory gave the 76ers a 3-0 lead in the first-round series.

Shaquille O'Neal endorses Joel Embiid for this season's MVP

Of Joel Embiid, Shaq O'Neal, the 1999-2000 MVP, said:

“Joel is understanding what a MVP should be. I always thought he was the baddest guy in the league.”

Embiid led the NBA in scoring for the first time in his career, with 30.6 points per game. He also averaged 11.7 rebounds and 4.2 assists across 68 appearances, leading the Philadelphia 76ers (51-31) to fourth place in the Eastern Conference.

Embiid is the first center since O’Neal to win the NBA scoring title (29.7 ppg during O'Neal's MVP season). Thus, O'Neal's endorsement of Embiid for this year's MVP has more weight.

O’Neal, a four-time NBA champion, earned two scoring titles as a center. “The Big Diesel” is one of only three players to win MVP, All-Star MVP and Finals MVP in the same season.

To see O'Neal using his accumulated greatness to endorse a player like Joel Embiid is refreshing. O’Neal often remarks that the league today is too soft, or that players today would hardly matchup to the greats of his time.

This season's MVP race has three bigs as finalists: Embiid, Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Even if Shaq’s opinion was biased toward a center, his pick of Embiid is made stronger, because the conversation is solely focused on big men.

Embiid’s clutch game-winning 3-pointer against the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday was a heartbreaker for Raptors fans. In a crazy sequence off the throw-in, Embiid ended up open for a quick turnaround shot from deep. It was a rather unusual play call for a center, but that is what made the difference for Shaq.

Embiid’s ability to make a clutch play like that, when it is so far out of his comfort zone, shows his dependability. For O’Neal, it was a play that elevated Embiid into his MVP pick. It showed viewers that there is no limit to Embiid’s game, and that he will take it wherever he needs to in order to win. That is an MVP-caliber player.

After dealing with the Ben Simmons debacle and reworked chemistry Embiid had to go through this season, he is still clutching and driving his team forward. There is no stopping this force at the moment, it makes sense why O'Neal endorsed Embiid. The dominance is too strong.