Joel Embiid appears to be a new favorite to win the NBA MVP award

In the latest NBA.com NBA MVP Ladder, Philadelpiha 76ers star center Joel Embiid has passed Nikola Jokic as the favorite to win the award.

For the majority of the season, Denver Nuggets do-it-all center Nikola Jokic has been considered the favorite to win the NBA MVP. It would be his third-straight year of winning the award and he’s absolutely been worthy of it. Jokic has the Nuggets atop the Western Conference standings and is the favorite to win to come out of the West. However, there’s another player that has been equally as worthy to win the award: Joel Embiid.

The Philadelphia 76ers superstar center is in the midst of his best season to date (averaging 34 points,10 rebounds, and four assists per game on 54 percent shooting from the field and 34 percent shooting from 3-point range) and has one game behind the second-seeded Boston Celtics in the East. With a few games left before the season, they’re only three games off the pace of the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks.

And according to NBA.com’s most recent MVP Ladder rankings, Embiid has officially overtaken Jokic as the favorite to win the MVP award.

Joel Embiid has been a worthy NBA MVP candidate all season long

The noise surrounding the Sixers has been relatively quiet all season long. Generally, that wouldn’t be a good thing but for Philadelphia, that is. Embiid has the Sixers playing at a high level and if the supporting cast (mainly Tyrese Maxey and James Harden) can remain healthy and continue to play at a consistent level heading into the NBA Playoffs, this is a team that should be able to compete with the likes of the Celtics and Bucks in the East.

After somewhat of an inconsistent season, the Sixers have quickly turned the page on their past narratives. In the past, the Sixers have been in the headlines for falling short of expectations. As was the case last season when they lost in the second round of the playoffs. However, this is a team that could end up making an NBA Finals run of their own.

And Embiid will be a big reason why if that ends up happening this season.

Especially with the Nuggets’ struggles of late, it seems that the tide is beginning to change when it comes to the NBA MVP race. At least for now, it seems that Embiid may be the favorite heading into the final stretch of the regular season.