The approach to picking the National Basketball Association’s Most Valuable Player award is different for every voter. Some take the title in the most literal sense, meaning the player who has such an impact on his team that he is irreplaceable. Others look for the player who has the best statistical season while still having success as a team.

Regardless of your approach, the NBA is so competitive that the top three in the MVP ladder is constantly being shifted and changed. Honorable mentions like Kevin Durant, Steph Curry and DeMar DeRozan have fallen out of the top three due to injuries, shooting slumps, and other players making leaps.

The three players that will be discussed today have been statistically elite throughout the season and their individual impact on the team could not be replaced.

Milwaukee Bucks forward and former MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, affectionately dubbed the Greek Freak, currently leads the race for MVP as well as the Defensive Player of the Year award. If this doesn’t convince you of his impact, the stats speak for themselves.

Antetokounmpo is currently averaging 28.5 points, 11 rebounds and six assists while shooting almost 55 percent from the field. While the stats are impressive, his defensive versatility and ability to control the tempo of the game is what really helps his team to compete against anything thrown at them.

Next on the list is Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic. He has carried his team to the sixth seed in the Western Conference despite missing his two best teammates. Jokic leads his team in every single statistical category and averages an insane 14 rebounds per game while getting his teammates involved through his 7.5 assists per game.

For those who look for a truly irreplaceable, Jokic is your guy. The offense runs through him and doesn’t run at all without him. When Jokic is on the court, the Nuggets are one of the better offenses in the league. When he is on the bench, the Nuggets are one of the worst offenses in the history of the league.

Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid rounds out the list of current contenders for the award. Many counted the 76ers out when Ben Simmons, star ball-handler and playmaker, refused to suit up and play for them this season.

Embiid has remained level-headed and has really stepped up into his sole leadership position. The team is currently sitting at the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference and that success is largely due to the explosive performances from Embiid.

Embiid added another huge performance to support his MVP case in which he put up 50 points and 12 rebounds in only 27 minutes of play against the Orlando Magic. He is currently averaging 28 points, 10.5 rebounds, and a career-high four assists.

Embiid hasn’t been held under 25 points in the last 12 games (11 of which he scored over 30) and they are 10-2 in that stretch of games. Embiid has not let an injured roster and the loss of his co-star affect his play as he continues to lead his team to a solid playoff seeding in this season full of adversity.

The NBA is full of talent, so much that there is no clear frontrunner in any award race at this point in the season. We are just a bit over the halfway mark of the season and lead changes in award races are inevitable.

If I had a vote, I would be inclined to cast mine for Nikola Jokic purely because of how abysmal his team looks without him, but any of the top three listed are perfectly reasonable choices.