Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo is one of the front runners in the NBA regular season MVP race. Giannis, along with Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic, is one of the most discussed candidates for the award.
Despite his dominating performance in recent years, former NBA player and current ESPN analyst JJ Redick put other players above Antetokounmpo. He said that Joel Embiid, Kevin Durant, and Nikola Jokic were the three best players in the world.
However, he recently took to Twitter to take back his comments, saying that he articulated his thoughts poorly.
I am not mad at the reaction- it’s justified. I’m mad at myself. Joel caught me off guard while I was trying to give him a compliment. I could have articulated better- the top 4 or 5 players are all “top 3”. Hard to rank (this isn’t tennis) bc there are too many great players
— JJ Redick (@jj_redick) April 1, 2022
Redick took full accountability for his mistake, apologizing to the Bucks power forward.
Meant no disrespect to Giannis- he’s one of my fav players and I’ve said many times this season (with receipts on pod and ESPN) that he’s been 1 of the 3 most dominant players in the league. I podcast and go on TV full time now- I should have been better in the moment w/ Jo
— JJ Redick (@jj_redick) April 1, 2022
The conversation sparked when Redick hosted Joel Embiid on his podcast, The Old Man & The Three. During their conversation, Redick referred to Embiid and Kevin Durant as “two of the two or three best players in the world.”
Embiid then asked who the third person in the top three would be. Taken aback by the question, Redick tried to explain his theoretical ranking.
“I'm not going to make an argument about who the three best players in the world are…I'm just saying, in my eyes, you're one of the three best players in the world, so is Kevin. That was my point.”
He then named Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic as the third player in the top three, leaving out Antetokounmpo, saying that he is “in the next group.”
Regardless of rankings, hypothetical or not, Redick has high respect for all of the MVP candidates, Antetokounmpo included.
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