Joel Embiid is Leading the mvp Race According to Latest Rankings
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With the season almost coming to an end, the MVP race is still pretty tight. Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid, and Giannis Antetokounmpo are all in close contention with each other. Joel Embiid is leading it currently however, according to ESPN’s latest straw poll. Embiid’s 52 points against the Celtics on Tuesday has certainly helped him pull away.
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The 76ers star is averaging 33.1 points per game this season, 10.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists. His points per game average leads the league and he has the most points per game on 50+ field goal percentage since Michael Jordan. Additionally, he has the most 50 point games in a season by a center since Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Not too bad of a season he’s having. It is the general consensus around the NBA community that Joel Embiid is the favorite to win the MVP. One of the people that holds this opinion is Stephen A. Smith.
He’s also at the top of the MVP Ladder created by the NBA.
Things definitely seem to be trending towards Embiid winning the NBA’s most coveted award. Although, Embiid has had a fantastic season, the other top two candidates have also had very impressive seasons.
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Nikola Jokic has had a ridiculous few seasons. If he wins this season, it would be his third straight MVP award. The last player to achieve that feat was Larry Bird from 1983 to 1986. The only other players in NBA history to win three straight MVPs are Bill Russel and Wilt Chamberlain. Jokic would be with legendary company if he pulls this off. The Nuggets star is averaging 24.8 points per game, 11.9 rebounds, and 9.8 assists this season. Joel Embiid has got Jokic beat points wise by a considerable margin but Jokic has better rebound and assist numbers this season. What has also made Jokic’s season that much more impressive is that he is playing on a team that has no other all-stars and the Nuggets have clinched the #1 seed in the Western Conference.
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The third candidate in contention for MVP is Giannis Antetokounmpo. Like Embiid and Jokic, Giannis continues to be one of the best and most dominant players in the league. He led the Bucks to clinching the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference and is averaging 31.1 points per game, 11.8 rebounds, and 5.7 rebounds this season. The Greek Freak continues to be a scoring and rebounding machine. He averaged close to 30 points last season as well with 29.9 and averaged over 11 rebounds with 11.6. Giannis last won the MVP award in the 2018-19 season.
No matter who wins MVP this season, this has been the most competitive MVP race that the league has seen for quite some time.