Former NBA champion Kendrick Perkins has been all over the news of late for his recent “MVP” comments.
Kendrick Perkins is often known for his hot takes but he came up with one of his hottest ones till date as he questioned the MVP voting system. With the Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic on his way to a third consecutive MVP award, Perkins questioned the voting system and called it out for having a racial bias – which did not go down well amongst many people.
Jokic averaged a double-double in his MVP seasons the last two years. The Denver star is currently averaging 24.4 points, 11.8 rebounds and 10 assists and is well on his way to another MVP award. However, Perkins alleged that there is racial bias in the voting system.
Perkins said that only three players since 1990 have won an MVP despite being outside the top 10 in points per game: Jokic in his first MVP campaign in 2020-21, Dirk Nowitzki (2006-07) and Steve Nash (2004-05, 2005-06). “What do those guys have in common? I’ll let it sit there and marinate. You think about it,” he said on “First Take”, testing co-host Stephen A. Smith.
Former NBA sharpshooter JJ Redick showed up on the show and hit back at Perkins.
What did JJ Redick have to say about Kendrick Perkins’ comments?
Redick appeared on ESPN’s “First Take” on Tuesday and strongly pushed back on Perkins’ opinion that there’s racial bias in the voting.
“Stephen A. (Smith), I mean no offense to you. And I mean no offense to ‘First Take’ because I think this show is extremely valuable,” he prefaced. “It is an honor to be on this desk every day. It really is. But what we just witnessed is the problem with this show. Where we create narratives that do not exist in reality. The implication that you are implying – that the white voters that vote on NBA (awards) are racist, that they favor white people. You just said that.”
“That’s exactly what you implied Kendrick Perkins,” Redick said as his former NBA colleague shook his head. “I did not!” Perkins said and added, “I stated the facts!”
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