We are in the very home stretch of the regular season, and the games are almost made for the races for the different trophies. There is one that seems very very undecided, it is the one for the title of MVP. Two players have been detached for a few weeks: Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic. 5 weeks ago ESPN polled 100 journalists, many of whom vote for the trophy at the end of the season, and it was extremely close between the two pivots. Embiid obtained 45 first places and the Serb 43.
Less than 10 games from the end of the season, the trend now seems a little clearer and it is the Nugget who hold the rope since they now obtain 62 first places, against only 29 in Cameroon. Giannis Antetokounmpo is still 3rd with 9 first places and does not seem to be able to hope for a 3rd Maurice Podoloff trophy yet. No other player gets first place, and only two others get second place: Ja Morant and Devin Booker.
Note that 100 journalists officially vote, with an additional vote via the fans. This is therefore a very interesting indication:
| Player | TEAM | 1ST | 2ND | 3rd | 4TH | 5TH | Total
votes |
Total
points |
Previous
ranking |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nikola Jokic | THE | 62 | 31 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 100 | 860 | 2 |
| 2 | Joel Embiid | PHI | 29 | 37 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 719 | 1 |
| 3 | Giannis Antetokounmpo | ONE THOUSAND | 9 | 30 | 55 | 6 | 0 | 100 | 593 | 3 |
| 4 | Ja Morant | MEM | 0 | 1 | 2 | 22 | 20 | 45 | 103 | 6 |
| 5 | Jayson Tatum | BUNCH | 0 | 0 | 2 | 22 | 17 | 41 | 93 | N/R |
| 6 | Luka Doncic | FROM THE | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 21 | 43 | 87 | 9 |
| 7 | Devin Booker | PHX | 0 | 1 | 3 | 14 | 18 | 36 | 82 | T-10 |
| 8 | Stephen Curry | GS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 7 | 16 | 34 | 4 |
| 9 | Kevin Durant | BKN | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 13 | 8 |
| 10 | Chris Paul | PHX | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 5 |
| 11 | LeBron James | LAL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | N/R |
| 12 | DeMar DeRozan | SPEND | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 7 |
| 13 | Bring Young | ATL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | N/R |
Via ESPN
