Does Joel Embiid purposely avoid playing Nikola Jokic in Denver?

Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty ImagesDoes Joel Embiid purposely avoid playing against Nikola Jokic in Denver?

If you pop on ESPN or open X, you’re destined to encounter some pundit or troll reminding you that the reigning MVP hasn’t suited up to play in The House that Joker Built since the year 2019 (the 2019-2020 season).

So does Embiid fear Joker? Does he get altitude sickness? Does he fear losing a head-to-head vs. a perennial MVP rival? What’s going on?

You know we had to check the record books to figure this question out.

Early years

In these early years of Embiid and Jokic’s careers, we really didn’t have any MVP rivalries to discuss.

At this time, before Jokic had ascended to…