Last season, the Denver Nuggets‘ Nikola Jokic surpassed Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid in the closing weeks of the NBA’s regular season to win the Most Valuable Player award, as injuries to Embiid and Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James cleared the path for Jokic to become the first center to win the award since Shaquille O’Neal in 2000.
As the 2021-22 regular season winds down, it appears Jokic has the inside track to repeat.
After Jokic finished just behind Embiid in the previous edition in mid-February, the four-time All-Star claimed 62 of 100 first-place votes in the third and final iteration of ESPN’s MVP straw poll, giving Jokic a clear — though narrow — lead over Embiid and Milwaukee Bucks forward and most recent back-to-back MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.
To gauge where the race stands with less than two weeks remaining in the regular…
