NBA MVP Odds: Joel Embiid Leads the Way Over Nikola Jokic

Since the 1955–56 season, the NBA Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) has been given to the best performing player in the NBA regular season. The winner is awarded the Maurice Podoloff Trophy, which is named after the NBA’s first commissioner. The MVP was chosen by a vote of NBA players until the 1979–80 season. Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid are the favorites for the award this year.

The NBA MVP award has been selected by a jury of sportswriters and broadcasters from throughout the United States and Canada since the 1980–81 season. Last season, Nuggets center Nikola Jokic won the league’s most coveted individual award. Jokic became the first genuine center to win the award since Tim Duncan earned it back-to-back in 2003 and 2004.

MVP Nikola Jokic

Before Jokic, the Greek Freak, the 6-foot-11 forward with the Milwaukee Bucks, earned MVP awards in both the 2019 and 2020 seasons. However, who is the top contender in winning it this time? Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid are the front runners to win it this time around with Durant injured and Curry in a rare shooting slump.

Joel Embiid has better odds of winning the MVP

With Kevin Durant out and Steph Curry no longer putting up the kind of numbers that he was earlier in the season, a new favorite for NBA MVP has emerged in the last few weeks. Joel Embiid’s MVP case has built into a thunderous, unstoppable roar. His ability to inspire an underperforming Philadelphia 76ers team is unfathomable. According to several betting sites, Embiid has the upper hand. Check out the complete odds here.

Joel Embiid Nikola Jokic

 

Embiid is a unique superstar charged with anchoring everything his team does on both ends, serving as the unstoppable nerve center for both attack and defense. Over his previous 18 games, Embiid has averaged 33.6 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 4.8 assists, and the Sixers have the best record in the Eastern Conference.

Joel is second in the league in scoring (29.3 PPG), a career-best, and is playing his most minutes per game (32.8) since the 2018-19 season. Despite not having any other All-Stars on his team, Embiid has the 76ers 2.5 games out of first place in the Eastern Conference. Many sites feel Embiid has the best odds to win the MVP this time. He has been given the odds around +140 to +150, with just days left for the announcement of the award.

Joel Embiid

 

Nikola Jokic’s case for the MVP

Jokic is also the favorite for the MVP award. Because of the trade deadline deal that brought James Harden and Joel Embiid together, Jokic might be the greatest beneficiary in the MVP competition. He leads the NBA in advanced statistics and has been as durable as ever this season, missing only six games. Jokic has a 37.5 percent probability of repeating as MVP, according to Basketball-Reference.com.

Nuggets Nikola Jokic

He’s averaging 24.2 points, 12.8 rebounds, and 9.3 assists in nine games for the Nuggets since the last MVP ladder while hitting 69.5 percent of his twos and 38.9 percent of his threes.

Can Jokic retain the MVP award? Or will Joel Embiid win his first?