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For the last few weeks, there has been a lot of talk about who will win this season’s NBA MVP trophy.
Most reports have suggested that Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luka Doncic, and Giannis Antetokounmpo are all in the running to win the highly coveted prize.
However, if a new straw poll from ESPN is to be believed, the race is all but over.
According to NBACentral, Jokic is the clear favorite to win the 2023-24 MVP.
He has 953 total points in the straw poll, including 85 first-place votes.
Second place goes to Gilgeous-Alexander, but he’s not even close with just 10 first-place votes and 626 total points.
Nikola Jokic is the favorite to win MVP according to ESPN’s NBA MVP straw poll
(Via https://t.co/Og7uImvALl) pic.twitter.com/ysMixQgch0
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) April 3, 2024
The list looks a lot like people expected with Doncic, Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum, and Jalen Brunson following Jokic and Gilgeous-Alexander.
At this point, it looks like the trophy is Jokic’s to lose, which means he would be earning his third MVP.
For much of the season, it didn’t seem like it was going to happen this way.
Joel Embiid was having a tremendous season and it appeared as if he was on track to win back-to-back MVPs.
But the NBA recently enacted a new rule that requires players to participate in 65 regular-season games to be eligible for end-of-season awards.
Because of his latest injury and absence, he is out of the running, which opened a clear pathway for Jokic to rise to the top.
That being said, Jokic has been playing like an MVP, scoring 26.4 points, 12.3 rebounds, and 9 assists per game.
He remains the best player on one of the league’s best teams and there is a strong chance that his Denver Nuggets could return to the NBA Finals.
That means in just a few months, Jokic could not only have another MVP trophy, but he could have another championship ring too.
The post ESPN Poll Shows A Clear Favorite To Win NBA MVP This Season appeared first on The Cold Wire.