NBA MVP Power Rankings: Who climbs the ladder after Joel Embiid's injury?

1. Nikola Jokic

Last week's rank: 2

After Embiid went down with an MCL injury, Nikola Jokic will retake the No. 1 spot in this week's MVP Power Rankings.

After leaping Embiid for the first spot in the MVP rankings, Jokic will look to hold on to that spot for a long time. The former two-time MVP will look to make it three in the coming months. He and the Denver Nuggets have played amazingly since the new year and have shown no signs of slowing down.

The Nuggets have now improved to 35-16 and are just .5 games behind the first-place OKC Thunder. The race for the first seed is only heating up as we inch closer to the all-star break. In a home-and-home matchup between the Portland Trailblazers, the Nuggets managed to dominate both games.

In the Nuggets' last win over the Trail Blazers, Jokic managed to clown Blazers center Deandre Ayton off of a pump fake. The fake got Ayton to look straight at the basket in anticipation of watching the ball swish through the net.

With Jokic now being labeled as the favorite to win the 2024 MVP award, he will need to keep an eye on his rearview mirror. The race for the MVP award just got closer for multiple names.

Even if Jokic doesn't win the MVP award, he has still managed to keep his Nuggets as one of the top contenders in the NBA. They will play the Los Angeles Lakers next on national TV. For more updates on the MVP race, trade rumors, and Dallas Mavericks basketball, stay plugged in.