Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers will not win the NBA MVP award in 2024, ending the league’s trend of back-to-back champions.

The great big man from Kansas suffered a meniscus rupture in his knee last Tuesday, and various news outlets claimed on Sunday that Embiid will undergo an operation that will keep him out for a prolonged length of time.

Embiid is leading the NBA in scoring for the third consecutive season, with 35.3 points per game. Embiid has outperformed his MVP season last year, averaging 5.7 assists and 11.3 rebounds per game. However, because Embiid has already missed 14 games for Philadelphia and is expected to miss a significant amount of time, he will be unable to repeat his accomplishment. A new CBA rule requires players to play 65 games to qualify for postseason prizes, which Embiid will not do in 2023-24. However, if the reports about his injuries are correct, the 7-footer has only 34 games played and is unlikely to have earned MVP regardless, given that he may only play a few games at the rest of the regular season.

Last year, Embiid won the award over Jokic, which was highly contentious. Many voters came to regret voting for the Philadelphia 76ers, but Denver won the championship and Jokic was named Finals MVP. Still, history was defied, since an MVP has not three-peated in nearly 40 years. Embiid was runner-up to Jokic in both of Nikola’s MVP seasons.

The Embiid revelation on Sunday left Nikola Jokic as a strong favorite to win his third MVP award this season, with some books putting him at -210. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Luka Doncic are also strong contenders.

Jokic and Antetokounmpo just squared off in a fireworks-filled matchup last Monday; if either is named the league’s best player this season, they will join Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell, Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, LeBron James, Moses Malone, Larry Bird, and Magic Johnson as three-time MVP winners.

Jokic entered Sunday having been in all but two Nuggets games, averaging 26.3 points, 12.3 rebounds, and 9.1 assists per game. Jokic will begin his fourth consecutive All-Star Game later this month.

Standings are one area where the Embiid announcement could have a greater impact on the Nuggets than in honor. Denver is one of four teams leading the West, with a 34-16 record entering Sunday. If Embiid returns for the playoffs, the Nuggets might face the Philadelphia 76ers in the finals. The 76ers are 30-18 and are expected to slip in the standings without their star, giving the Nuggets homecourt advantage. And everyone knows how Embiid feels about playing in Denver.