Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, left, drives to the basket as Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell, front right, and center Rudy Gobert defend in the second half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, Jan. 31, 2021, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) Denver’s Nikola Jokic finished ninth in the MVP voting last season. Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid and Golden State’s Stephen Curry didn’t get listed on a single ballot a year ago. A year later, one of them will walk away with the NBA’s highest individual prize. Jokic, Embiid and Curry were revealed Thursday night as the three top votegetters for this year’s NBA MVP award, one that will be presented sometime during the playoffs. Curry is a two-time winner, Jokic’s best previous finish was fourth in 2019 and Embiid’s best MVP showing was seventh in 2019. Jokic would be the first Denver player to win MVP. Embiid would be Philadelphia’s first winner since Allen Iverson in 2001 and Curry could become the ninth player in NBA history to win the trophy three times. The 18 top-three vote-getters in six award categories — MVP, coach of the year, most improved player, rookie of the year, defensive player of the year and sixth