MVP voters poised to rob Nikola Jokic again according to latest poll

History repeats itself.

Months after capitulating for wrongly handing the NBA MVP to Joel Embiid over Nikola Jokic, the same group of voters are trending toward doing it again. In the first of ESPN’s NBA MVP Straw Polls which was published on Thursday, Embiid is the leader in the clubhouse to take home a second-straight MVP. Jokic was far behind his fellow big man but firmly in second place ahead of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luka Doncic.

I've come to think the MVP straw poll does nothing but poison the well, but the results of this year's first run at it were probably correct, at least when compared to the numbers for the top five or six. pic.twitter.com/LxWjz5hJbU

— Andy Bailey (@AndrewDBailey) December 21, 2023

Last year’s Straw Polls had a massive impact on the MVP race, seemingly flipping the vote in the season’s dying days. And that was after a prior Straw Poll was the catalyst behind ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins’ race-bating comments which impacted the Nuggets play down the stretch.

Embiid robbed Jokic of history and a third-straight MVP, then flamed out in the playoffs despite again having a more accomplished supporting cast. When Jokic went on to win Finals MVP and bring Denver a title, many in the media admitted their mistake of picking the wrong 7-footer. ESPN went as far as to fire and/or demote several employees who had been notably anti-Jokic. Perkins was not one of the employees punished.

To start this season, Embiid has been even better individually. Leading the league in scoring for a third-straight season, he’s at a wild 35.1 points per game, adding 11.9 rebounds and 5.8 assists a night all while having the league’s best player efficiency mark and the highest usage rate. While the 76ers record is similar to Denver’s 19-10, Philly’s 19-8 is pretty flimsy—only claiming three wins thus far against teams in the top seven of either conference.

Meanwhile, a sour stretch of shooting and multiple ejections have led to a downtick in Jokic’s numbers as of late. Still, win shares, value of replacement and box plus-minus tab the Serbian as the league’s most valuable player. And while Jokic’s shooting numbers are down a bit early on and he’s throwing half an assist less per game, he’s scoring more points and snagging more rebounds 28 games into the season.

🫡 pic.twitter.com/0yrXAEIbse

— Jake Shapiro, but festive 🎁 (@Shapalicious) December 21, 2023

The first straw poll isn’t that meaningful anyway as most casuals will start really keying in on the NBA around Christmas time. Over the past three seasons, the players who led this initial straw poll—LeBron James in 2020-21, Stephen Curry in 2021-22 and Jayson Tatum in 2022-23—finished 14th, eighth and fourth, respectively, in the NBA’s final vote.

While the MVP is something Jokic has not only said over and over does not matter to him but something he’s shied away from entirely. The ESPN article on the poll has some insane quotes from Embiid talking about legacy where he has seemingly wish-washed on his words again about MVPs and championships and which are more valuable. Embiid’s words carry little weight compared to his game, which has been phenomenal. We’ll see if the big man will actually have the courage to face Jokic in Denver come Jan. 27, a would-be first appearance in Colorado since 2019 when he choked a 21-point fourth-quarter lead and saw Jokic hit a game-winner on his head.

But Embiid is right, the MVP does matter for legacy and how the future will remember Jokic. While Big Honey himself may not care where he ranks inside of basketball’s top 25 of all time, history books and Nuggets fans sure will. Jokic is in the midst of building one of the best resumes in basketball history. The more honors Joker gets, the closer he climbs to LeBron James, Michael Jordan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar—a realm the Serbian star belongs in.