Winning does indeed matter.
Milwaukee Bucks guard Malcolm Brogdon beat out Sixers Joel Embiid and Dario Saric for the NBA's Rookie of the Year award. The honor was announced during the league's first annual awards show on Monday night in New York.
Brogdon, the 36th overall pick in the 2016 draft, averaged 10.2 points, 4.8 assists and 2.8 rebounds for a Bucks team that reached the postseason. He also shot 40.4 percent from three-point range, while the Bucks were 17-11 in regular-season games the Virginia product started.
The award appeared ready to be handed to Embiid early in the season. The big man was sensational as he averaged 20.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.5 blocks a night for the Sixers.
However, Embiid was limited by injuries to just 31 games. No player has won ROY without playing at least 50 games (Patrick Ewing, 1985).
Saric came on strong during the second half of the season with Embiid sidelined and Ersan Ilyasova traded to the Atlanta Hawks. In his last 30 games, the forward put up 17.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists a game.
Philadelphia 76ers
Complete coverage of the Philadelphia 76ers and their rivals in the NBA from NBC Sports Philadelphia.
For the season, Saric averaged 12.8 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.2 assists per contests.
In the end, the superior stats weren't enough for Embiid and Saric as Brogdon's Bucks finished with 14 more wins and the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference.
