Although people plenty of people believe Nikola Jokic is the frontrunner to win the award, the MVP race is hotter than ever, with more fans adding names to the competition, including Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
However, it seems like the biggest competition for the Denver Nuggets superstar will be the former No. 1 candidate to take the award: Joel Embiid. The Philadelphia 76ers big man returned to action a couple of weeks ago, picking things right where he left them. The Cameroonian big man has claimed he still believes he’s the rightful winner of the award, saying he’s been dominant all season long, just like Shaquille O’Neal when he won the 2000 MVP award.
This race appears to be a very interesting one but the numbers show that other than three stats, the Joker is better than Embiid. JoJo only surpasses Jokic in points, rebounds and blocks per game, logging 30.0 points with 11.1 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per outing. Jokic has recorded 26.3 points, 10.7 rebounds and 0.6 blocks per game.
The MVP race; who has the better stat?
Embiid:
— PPG
— RPG
— BPG
Jokic:
— APG
— SPG
— 3PG
— TOV/G
— FG%
— 3P%
— FT%
— TS%
— PER pic.twitter.com/YQLjCcZhYb
— StatMuse (@statmuse) April 23, 2021
Assists, steals, 3-point FG, turnovers, field goal percentage, 3-point percentage, free throw percentage, true shooting percentage and player efficiency rating (PER) are all led by the Serbian big man. With defensive advanced stats, Embiid improves to seven stats while Jokic leads in 13 items.
Revised list with more defensive and advance stats.
Embiid:
— PPG
— RPG
— BPG
— DRTG
— OPP FG%
— TRB%
— USG%
Jokic:
— APG
— SPG
— 3PG
— TOV/G
— AST/TO
— TS%
— ORTG
— PER
— WS/48
— BPM
— OBPM
— DBPM
— VORP pic.twitter.com/lJh5RJTtnN
— StatMuse (@statmuse) April 23, 2021
Nikola has a big advantage over his opponent but Embiid has taken the Philadelphia 76ers to the 2nd position in the Eastern Conference while the Nuggets rank 4th in the West. This race could get more interesting in the next couple of days and we can’t wait to see if any of these is going to win the coveted award or if any of the other candidates will make a late push to add more drama to this saga.
https://t.co/wWGNmWnCY9’s updated MVP Ladder:
1) Nikola Jokic
2) Joel Embiid
3) Giannis Antetokounmpo
4) Luka Doncic
5) Stephen Curry
6) Damian Lillard
7) Kawhi Leonard
8) LeBron James
9) Chris Paul
10) Rudy Gobert
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) April 23, 2021
The NBA ladders have Jokic as the leader of the pack, with Embiid following him in second while Giannis Antetokounmpo is ranking third. Luka Doncic, Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard and Kawhi Leonard follow them.
