On Thursday, Charles Barkley called out one particular MVP voter who made the appalling decision not to include Nikola Jokic in his Top 5 ballot. It was later revealed that it was actually former All-Star Mark Jackson who made that call, and unsurprisingly, the 58-year-old has been heavily criticized for his inexplicable omission of the Denver Nuggets superstar from his ballot.

Jackson has now broken his silence on the hot topic, and in fairness to him, the former NBA star turned ESPN broadcaster has come out with a public apology for what he deems to be a grave error from his end:

“Absolute mistake made by me,” Jackson said. “… You can tell: I put one center, two forwards, and two guards. So I wasn't even thinking. I apologize to the Denver Nuggets. I apologize to Nikola Jokic, who is not only in the MVP discussion and deserved to be on my ballot, but he's one of the greatest players in the history of this game. He is a Top 10 center of all time.”

Jackson doubled down on his apology with a statement on Twitter:

For what it's worth, Jackson voted for Joel Embiid, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Donovan Mitchell on his ballot. You could make a case for all five stars, but in the end, it's a complete travesty that Nikola Jokic was left out.

You have to give credit to Jackson for not making any excuses here and for owning up to his mistake. It was a pretty huge gaffe, though, and one that could have major consequences for him moving forward. For his part, though, Mark Jackson is ready to face the music:

“I own it,” Jackson continued. “If you want to take away my vote, do whatever, you're more than welcome. I made a mistake. … I own the mistake and I apologize.”