A straw poll conducted by ESPN asked 100 media members to vote for the MVP at this point in the season with LeBron James receiving 54 of a possible 100 first place votes and 760 total points. Joel Embiid received the second most first place votes with 23 and 665 total points, while Nikola Jokic received 18 first place votes and 596 total points.

Kevin Durant and Kawhi Leonard rounded out the top-5, though there is a large delta between their points and the top-3.

James hasn't won MVP since 2013, but he finished second in 2014, third in 2015, third in 2016, fourth in 2017, second in 2018 and second in 2020.