Giannis Antetokounmpo is the best player on the NBA’s best team. Nikola Jokic is nearly averaging a triple-double as a 7-foot center on the Western Conference’s top seed. Joel Embiid is the perennial bridesmaid who’s having the best year of his career on a serious Eastern Conference contender and, unlike Antetokounmpo and Jokic, has never won a league MVP award.
Jokic, in fact, has won back-to-back MVPs, something Antetokounmpo did in the two preceding seasons. In a close three-way race such as this, voter fatigue is a real thing – and it helps explain why, as of Thursday, Embiid was a consensus favorite (-150 at FanDuel) to win his first MVP award, with Jokic (+230 at DraftKings) and Antetokounmpo (+275 at BetMGM) in a close race for runner-up.
But anyone who felt confident that this was Embiid’s race to lose — a group that previously included Eric Raskin, managing editor of Sports Handle sister site US Bets — could not be pleased by news that a calf injury had Embiid sit out the second half of Wednesday’s blowout win over the Bulls. Embiid said he expected to play Friday against the Warriors, but he and coach Doc Rivers also made it clear that postseason health was the priority — and the MVP is a regular-season-only award.
Hence, it could be argued that the race is still wide open with just a few games to go. That sense of fluidity is supported by the loss of Jokic’s months-long vise grip on favorite status after his team went on a four-game losing streak despite the center’s continued stellar play. That was just last week.