Two months ago, the NBA's Most Valuable Player award was Joel Embiid's to lose.
Oddsmakers gave the Philadelphia 76ers' superstar center and the league's reigning MVP a commanding edge to repeat, while Embiid dominated the first round of ESPN's MVP straw poll behind a third straight season of league-leading scoring -- this season in the wake of guard James Harden's chaotic departure from the franchise.
But when Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga dove for a loose ball and fell on Embiid's leg during a game last month, it upended the MVP race in a way the league hasn't seen.
Embiid, the first star to become ineligible for end-of-season awards under the NBA's new 65-game rule, underwent a procedure on his left knee on Feb. 6 and will be reevaluated in a few weeks. (Embiid officially became ineligible when Philadelphia's win in Washington Saturday night became his 18th missed game of the season.)
As a result, Embiid did not receive any votes in the second round of ESPN's NBA MVP straw poll, which was conducted from Friday night through Sunday night. And with Embiid off the board, a familiar face has put himself in pole position: Denver Nuggets center and two-time MVP Nikola Jokic.
Jokic, who won his awards in 2021 and 2022, is trying to join an elite list. Only eight players have claimed at least three MVP trophies in their careers: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (six), Bill Russell and Michael Jordan (five), Wilt Chamberlain and LeBron James (four), and Moses Malone, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird (three). And even fewer players -- Abdul-Jabbar, Russell, Chamberlain, James, Johnson and Bird -- have won three MVPs in a four-year span.
Jokic is having another sensational season for the defending champions, averaging 26.3 points, 12.2 rebounds and 9.0 assists for a Denver team that is part of the cluster atop the Western Conference standings as the All-Star break approaches.
With two months remaining in the regular season, results are in for ESPN's second NBA MVP straw poll of 2023-24. Here is how this unprecedented race is shaking out.