New favorite for NBA MVP emerges

Apr 28, 2021; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) before the game against the New Orleans Pelicans at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

A new betting favorite for NBA MVP has emerged.

Sportsbetting.ag has updated their odds for several NBA awards, including MVP. Nikola Jokic has gone from being the favorite to win the award to now being second behind Joel Embiid.

Embiid is the favorite at +110 while Jokic is not too far behind at +150. The only other player in contention for the award according to their odds is Giannis Antetokounmpo at +340.

As recently as March 4, Jokic was the heavy favorite to win NBA MVP at -500 odds.

What’s happened since then? Denver has lost four in a row, while Embiid’s Philadelphia 76ers are riding a 6-game winning streak.

As many fans and pundits had said, just because Jokic was a heavy favorite in early March did not mean was automatically going to win the award; there were still several games left to be played.

Embiid has continued his hot play. He’s averaging a career-high 33.5 points to go along with 10.2 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game. Jokic still has great stats at 24.7 points, 11.9 rebounds and 10.0 assists per game while shooting 63 percent from the field. But his team needs to turn around their losing for Jokic to have a better chance of winning the award.

Or maybe it was just the Kendrick Perkins effect that’s turning the tides.