There has been much attention on Kendrick Perkins and JJ Redick going at it on ESPN's First Take regarding racial bias playing a part in Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic winning MVP awards.
Here is the clip in question:
JJ Redick condemns First Take and pushes back on Kendrick Perkins alleging NBA MVP voters have a racial bias against Black players: pic.twitter.com/7pOMmGW4AH
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 7, 2023
Kendrick Perkins tweeted about the clip, defending himself.
“Last year I was a coon,” Perkins said. “This year I'm a racist. Well damn, which one is it? IT'S NEITHER. I call out facts and not afraid to address the elephant in the room.”
The story that Perkins is referencing from last year is when Golden State Warriors player Draymond Green called him a ‘coon' on his podcast, comparing him to Skip Bayless.
Now he took some heat from JJ Redick, who said that Perkins insinuated that some voters were racist in voting for Nikola Jokic to win the MVP in the last two seasons. Jokic viewed as the favorite for the award again this season, which would be the third straight for him.
Jokic beat out 76ers star Joel Embiid for the award in both of the last two seasons, and that is viewed as the likely outcome this season as well.
Jokic would join an exclusive group of Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlin and Bill Russell as the only players to win the award three times in a row. In the discussion surrounding Jokic winning the award for the third-straight time, voter fatigue is often brought up, specifically relating to how that has impacted players like LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Jokic winning his first MVP ended Giannis Antetokounmpo's streak of winning the award. Many fans also believe that LeBron James has lost out on at least one MVP award.
The feud between Redick and Perkins only brings this conversation that has been happening already to the forefront of people's minds.
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