NBA Awards 2021: Steph Curry joins Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid in tight NBA MVP race

The 2020-21 NBA regular season is officially in the books, and while the league is primarily focused on moving on into the postseason, this is also the point on the schedule at which the NBA begins to honour the league's best individual achievements. Earlier on Thursday, the league announced its three NBA MVP finalists for the 2020-21 season: Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry, Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid and Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic. The league also announced the finalists for the NBA Coach of the Year, NBA Defensive Player of the Year, NBA Most Improved Player, NBA Rookie of the Year and Kia NBA Sixth Man. Here is more on the NBA Awards 2021 and the NBA MVP race as the NBA playoffs 2021 near -

NBA MVP race: 2020-21 NBA MVP finalists announced on Thursday

Stephen Curry is the only one of the three 2020-21 NBA MVP finalists to have won the award in the past, claiming the honour in the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons.  The 33-year-old Warriors icon finished the 2020-21 season as the NBA's scoring leader (32 PPG), adding 5.8 assists and five rebounds per game while shooting 48.2 percent from the field and 42.1 percent from three. He also led the NBA in made threes (337).

Meanwhile, Joel Embiid has made a strong argument to be considered the as this season's MVP. He was dominant in the 2020-21 season, averaging 28.5 points, 10.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.4 blocks and a steal per game. Embiid also led the Sixers to the top overall seed in the Eastern Conference. 

The Nuggets' Nikola Jokic has played in every single game this year, averaging an impressive 26.4 points, 10.8 rebounds, 8.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game. The 26-year-old has been phenomenal this season and led his team to a third-place finish in the Western Conference during the regular season. 

The three NBA MVP finalists based on voting results from a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters are listed in alphabetical order below: 

Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors
Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers
Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets

NBA awards 2021: A look at the other finalists to win NBA honours this season

NBA Coach of the Year finalists

Quin Snyder, Utah Jazz
Tom Thibodeau, New York Knicks
Monty Williams, Phoenix Suns

NBA Sixth Man finalists

Jordan Clarkson, Utah Jazz
Joe Ingles, Utah Jazz
Derrick Rose, New York Knicks

NBA Most Improved Player finalists

Jerami Grant, Detroit Pistons
Michael Porter Jr., Denver Nuggets
Julius Randle, New York Knicks

NBA Rookie of the Year finalists

LaMelo Ball, Charlotte Hornets
Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves
Tyrese Haliburton, Sacramento Kings

NBA Defensive Player of the Year finalists

Rudy Gobert, Utah Jazz
Draymond Green, Golden State Warriors
Ben Simmons, Philadelphia 76ers

When will NBA MVP be declared? 

Although no official date has been announced for when will NBA MVP be declared, TNT will reveal the winner of each award during its coverage of the NBA Playoffs 2021. Each voter’s complete ballot for each award will be posted at pr.nba.com after the announcement of all end-of-season awards. The Nikola Jokic MVP chances also seem high this year.

Image Credits - Sixers, Warriors, Nuggets Instagram