Sportsbooks view Nikola Jokic as 'a lock to win his 3rd-straight MVP'

Only three players in NBA history have won back-to-back-to-backMost-Valuable-Player awards: Larry Bird (1984-1986), WiltChamberlain (1966-1968) and Bill Russell (1961-1963).

That legendary club may add another member in a few months, asit’s seeming more and more likely that Nikola Jokic will take homehis third-straight MVP award this season.

Early in the season, there was a new MVP front-runner everymonth. In October, Luka Doncic had the best odds. In November,Giannis Antetokounmpo became the favorite. In December, JaysonTatum narrowly took the lead.Initially, it seemed that Jokicwould have a tough time winning the award due to voter fatigue.

However, in early January, Jokic became the odds-on favorite towin the award, and he hasn’t looked back since. And over the lastmonth, his odds have only gotten better.

Jokic's odds are now at -163, meaning he has a 63.6% impliedchance of winning the MVP award, according to OddsChecker. The next-best oddsbelong to Joel Embiid, who is a +390 (or a 20.4% implied chance ofwinning).