Kendrick Perkins does not think Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic should win his third consecutive NBA MVP Award this year, and he has decided to go the race-baiting route in an attempt to prove his point.
Perkins said on ESPN’s “First Take” Wednesday that he believes Jokic has race on his side in the MVP discussion. Perkins, who was ripped by fellow ESPN analyst JJ Redick this week for accusing Jokic of “stat-padding,” accused MVP voters of historically changing the criteria for which player should win MVP based on skin color.
.@KendrickPerkins gives his rebuttal to the backlash from @jj_redick for his Nikola Jokić comments pic.twitter.com/20R4K79SQP
— First Take (@FirstTake) March 1, 2023
“When I come on here every single time and I ask what is the criteria for the MVP and how the goal posts have moved, I’m asking these questions for a reason,” Perkins said. “When I look at JJ and I hear him talk, and he’s so big in analytics and he’s a historian when it comes down to diving in deep and going back in history and talking about the evolution of the game, why did he never bring up this particular subject? When it comes down to guys being MVP since 1990, there’s only three guys that won the MVP that wasn’t in the top 10 in scoring. Do you know who those three guys were? Steve Nash, Jokic and Dirk Nowitzki. Now, what do those guys have in common? I’ll let it sit there and marinate so you can think about it.”
Perkins later doubled down with a video on Twitter, though he later deleted it.
Kendrick Perkins uploaded a video on his twitter, doubling down on his take that Jokic, Nash and Dirk only won MVP because they are white before deleting the tweet pic.twitter.com/nZiKcspXQ1
— hoops bot (@hoops_bot) March 1, 2023
Like many other analysts, Perkins’ job is to deliver hot takes. This is not the first time he has left some people scratching their heads while doing so.
Jokic is averaging a triple-double this season with 24.6 points, 11.7 rebounds and 10.0 assists. The Nuggets are 44-19 and the top seed in the Western Conference. Perkins believes Joel Embiid, who is averaging 33.0 points, 10.4 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game, should be considered the MVP frontrunner.
