Nuggets' Nikola Jokic favored to win NBA MVP for third time

There’s a familiar name at the top of the 2023-24 NBA MVP odds board. 

Coming off his first NBA title, Nikola Jokic is the clear favorite to win his third MVP award in four seasons, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. 

The Denver Nuggets center is currently +430, the only player with odds better than 5/1, to take home the newly-named Michael Jordan Trophy. 

Jokic is trailed by the Mavericks’ Luka Doncic (+550) and the Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo (+600), a two-time NBA MVP himself.

The pair are the only other players with odds better than 2/15.

Jayson Tatum of the Celtics (+750) and Joel Embiid of the 76ers (+850), the reigning award winner, round out of the top five. 

Oddsmakers see it as a five-man race — Steph Curry is the next favorite all the way down at +1400, just ahead of Kevin Durant (+1600) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (+1800).

After falling just short last season, Jokic is looking to become just the fourth player in NBA history to win the MVP award exactly three times, joining Moses Malone, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. 

(Kareem Abdul-Jabbar owns the league record with six MVPs, followed by Michael Jordan and Bill Russell with five, and Wilt Chamberlain and LeBron James with four.)

So Jokic will have to overcome some serious voter fatigue if he wants to pull off the feat.

But after a dominant postseason run on the way to the 2023 NBA title, Jokic proved he was the best basketball player on the planet. 

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If the Nuggets can, once again, lock down the No. 1 seed in what promises to be an even tougher Western Conference, The Joker should once again be smack dab in the middle of the MVP conversation.