Exactly one month ago, ESPN released its second of three straw polls tracking the NBA's Most Valuable Player race for the 2022-23 season, and it had a very clear result: Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic as the heavy favorite to claim his third straight award.
Thursday saw Las Vegas tell a different tale, as Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid was installed as the new slight MVP favorite after finishing in second each of the last two seasons.
What happened?
Most notably, Denver has lost four straight games: home defeats to the Chicago Bulls and Brooklyn Nets and road losses to the San Antonio Spurs and the Toronto Raptors, whom they allowed to score 49 points in the first quarter Tuesday night.