The end of the 2022-23 regular season was dominated by pro-Joel Embiid and anti-Nikola Jokic narratives. Talking heads and even other NBA players believed that Embiid deserved to win the 2023 NBA MVP because the Philadelphia 76ers star was better defensively, and that the gap between the two on offense wasn't that big for the Denver Nuggets star to make it an MVP three-peat. But now, a lot of MVP voters are eating crow — and chief among them is Mark Jackson.
But at the very least, the former Golden State Warriors coach is making amends for his previous blunder which saw him vote for Embiid over Jokic as the regular season MVP.
Now with the opportunity to make things right, Jackson voted for Nikola Jokic as the rightful 2023 NBA Finals MVP after the Nuggets take home the championship with a 94-89 win over the Miami Heat.
“I'm just so glad I got my MVP vote right this time. I can go home and sleep easy,” Jackson said, per Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.
There wasn't any other choice to muddy things up for Mark Jackson. So if by some inexplicable chance he fails to vote for Nikola Jokic once more, then there truly are some greater forces at work.
What made Jackson's failure to vote for the Nuggets star center as the regular season MVP so egregious is that he left Jokic out of his ballot entirely. The former Warriors coach voted for the likes of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Donovan Mitchell over Jokic instead, which is an extremely careless oversight.
But Jackson has certainly been on an apology tour after hearing criticisms from the entire NBA world — even those who favored Joel Embiid over Nikola Jokic. Last month, Jackson even straight up apologized on air to the Nuggets and to Jokic himself for his error.
It will be difficult to find anyone who'll be making this error again after Jokic stamped his class throughout the 2023 NBA playoffs. Jokic has certainly ascended beyond the point of comparison against the Sixers star. Nevertheless, credit must go to Mark Jackson for owning up to his mistakes.
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