Before we go in further, it would “pay” to see how the most popular NBA betting sites currently have the MVP odds at. These lines change regularly, but at publish time, these are the top-five players with the best chance to win it:
| Player |  |  |
|---|---|---|
| Joel Embiid | +175 | +175 |
| Steph Curry | +275 | +275 |
| Giannis Antetokounmpo | +300 | +300 |
| Nikola Jokic | +425 | +425 |
| Ja Morant | +1200 | +1200 |
New NBA MVP Favorites Emerge
Entering the 2022 calendar, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant were firmly entrenched as the co-MVP front-runners. That’s completely changed in only a month's time. Durant sprained his MCL and is expected to be out another month of action. Curry, on the other hand, is in the midst of the worst-ever shooting slump of his brilliant career. During the month of January, Curry is shooting under 30 percent from three-point range and 36 percent from the field. Curry’s cold streak and Durant’s timely injury has opened the door for two new NBA MVP favorites.
The new betting favorite at the top online sportsbooks is Joel Embiid. He’s scorching-the-Earth hit right now. In the past two weeks, Embiid is averaging 35.6 points per game, 11.6 boards, and 4.4 assists. Moreover, he’s netted at least 25 points in 16 straight games.
Also ascending the betting ranks next to Embiid is the reigning MVP, Nikola Jokic. Here’s his two-week stat line: 29.3 points a game, 13.1 boards, and 10.6 assists. A “quiet” triple-double for a 7-foot — no big deal. This season, Jokic has four different games of 20-20 (20 points, 20 rebounds). The rest of the league combined? A meager eight.
Despite gaudy numbers from both Jokic and Embiid, we’re not betting on either one in this player prop. Alright, hear us out: Embiid, when healthy, might be the most dominant player in the league. But that’s a massive if because health is a rarity for Embiid. The man’s never played more than 64 games in a single season and we doubt he eclipses that total in 2022. Like Durant, we expect an untimely injury to derail Embiid’s MVP chance, unfortunately.
Jokic, well, it’s just tough to win back-to-back MVP titles. Part of the reason is voter fatigue. You really, really have to outdo yourselves to pull off the two peat. At the moment, Jokic numbers are pretty level year-to-year, therefore, it lacks that “wow” factor. Save your money and skip bets on Jokic or Embiid, and put it on this next player instead:
Betting Pick To Win NBA MVP
Despite the historic slump, our betting pick to win NBA MVP is still Curry. Hear is out on this one: this cold stretch is nearing its end. This man is the greatest shooter this league has ever seen — you really think he’s going to be this bad for the remaining three months of the season? No way! Cold streaks happen, which you should know as a bettor, but they never last forever.
Heck, it might already be over. A few nights ago against Minnesota, Curry knocked down 6-of-10 shots from beyond the arc. It marked the first time since late December that Curry shot above 50% from three-point land. Curry is either out of the woods or very close to being so.
But here’s another reason why we’re picking Curry over Embiid and Jokic: his team is an actual title contender. At the moment, both the Sixers and Nuggets are sixth seeds (and remember, seventh seeds are guaranteed only the play-in game in the playoffs). Whether fair or not, team success does factor into MVP voting and the Warriors have the second-best record in the league at 36-13. Once Curry gets back on track, the Dubs should be even better, which he’ll naturally earn credit for.
Tune out the noise and use this opportunity to take Curry. After all, his MVP odds have fallen to near-preseason levels. You're getting extremely good value for the NBA's best pure shooter ever — value that we're hammering here!
How To Bet On NBA Player Props?
The MVP bet is a season-long player prop alongside other year-end awards like Rookie of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year, and Coach of the Year. To bet on all these NBA player props, plus more, check out the betting sites listed underneath. If players' props aren't your thing, "regular" bets on games are also available in spread, over/under, and moneyline form.
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