Nikola Jokic was announced on Tuesday as the winner of the 2020-2021 NBA MVP award. He finished ahead of Joel Embiid and Steph Curry for the honor. Rounding out the top five were Giannis Antetokounmpo and Chris Paul.
The top five of the voting went about as expected, but there was one anomaly: Derrick Rose received one first-place vote for MVP. Rose was mostly a bench player and averaged just 14.7 points per game this season. He played 15 games for the lowly Pistons and 33 for the Knicks. He hardly had MVP credentials.
So, how exactly did he receive a first-place vote? Rose received the vote as the cumulative fan vote. He didn’t receive a vote from a media member.
The first-place vote for Derrick Rose was a cumulative fan vote for the MVP award rather than a media member, league spokesman Tim Frank confirms.
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) June 8, 2021
Rose was the 2010-2011 NBA MVP and got a first-place vote 10 years later. That is a testament to his likability among fans.
The 32-year-old guard is hoping to return to the Knicks next season.
