The NBA announced its much-anticipated 2023 NBA regular season MVP regular on TNT on Tuesday. Philadelphia's Joel Embiid captured the first MVP of his career with 72 first-place votes and 915 total votes. He also received 25 second-place votes and 2 third-place votes.
Two-time MVP Nikola Jokić finished in second place in the voting with 674 total votes. He received 15 first-place votes, 52 second-place, and 32 third-place votes.
Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounpo got 606 total votes: 12 first-place votes, 52 second-place votes, and 65 third-place votes.
Here's a look at how the three candidates stack up according to the numbers.
Joel Embiid: 33.1 PPG, 10.2 RBs, 4.2 ASTs, 1.7 BLKs, 1 STL, 54.8% FG, 33% 3PT, 124 Offensive Rating, 108.8 Defensive Rating, 65.5% True Shooting, 9.2 Box Plus-Minus
Nikola Jokić: 24.5 PPG, 11.8 RBs, 9.8 ASTs, 0.7 BLKs, 1.3 STLs, 63.2% FG, 38.3% 3PT, 134.4 OFF RTG, 109.6 DEF RTG, 70.1% TS, 13.0 BPM
Giannis Antetokounmpo: 31.1 PPG, 11.8 RBs, 5.7 ASTs, 0.8 BLKs, 0.8 STLs, 55.3% FG, 27.5% 3PT, 117 OFF RTG, 108 DEF RTG, 60.5% TS, 8.5 BPM
As mentioned, this is Embiid's first season finishing in first place in MVP voting. He finished second in 2022, behind Jokić, and has led the league in scoring in each of the last two seasons. Embiid is the only center to ever lead the NBA in consecutive years since the ABA-NBA merger of 1976.
Jokić led the league in triple-doubles. He also dished the most assists per game ever for a center in a single season. His 70.1 percent true shooting was the highest true shooting a player has ever recorded in a single season while taking at least 1,000 shots. True shooting calibrates field goal percentage, three-point percentage, and free-throw shooting on a weighted scale.
For more information on his sensational season, check out our single-season statistical deep dive.