ESPN corrects Kendrick Perkins’ NBA MVP remark

JJ Redick BLASTS Kendrick Perkins Live On ESPN’s First Take

ESPN has publicly corrected former NBA center and “First Take” panelist Kendrick Le’Dale “Perk” Perkins’ claim that most NBA MVP voters are white, allegedly the reason why Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic has won multiple MVP awards.

In the opening statement of Wednesday’s episode of the popular sports talk program, co-host Molly Qerim addressed Perkins’ comment.

Qerim said Perkins’s remark that 80 percent of NBA MVP voters are white was untrue. She explained that the NBA discloses the votes publicly every year, and upon analysis, it was evident that the panel is much more diverse than Perkins had claimed.

“We wanted to make sure we corrected that today,” Qerim said.

A hundred people cast their ballots for league MVP last year, and the NBA has confirmed that there will be one hundred again this year. Perkins also had cast a vote in last year’s election.

Perkins started his argument last week by pointing out that only Jokic, Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash have won MVP since 1990 despite finishing outside the top 10 in points per game.

“What do those guys have in common? I’ll let it sit there and marinate. You think about it,” Perkins said.

Jonathan Clay “JJ” Redick, a sports analyst for ESPN who spent 15 years in the NBA, criticized Perkins’ remarks on Tuesday.

Jimmy Joe Jerkić

2023-03-01 17:06

Kendrick Perkins, you can’t just claim criteria is different for white players, and then delete the video and pretend it never happened. This one is here to stay. Accountability. #MileHighBasketball @jj_redick @KendrickPerkins @espn #NBA #NBATwitter #mvp #jokic @jokerszn15 https://t.co/mYrVYEReL8

358 53

Redick began his statement by saying that he didn’t mean to disrespect Stephen A. Smith or First Take and was grateful for the opportunity to appear on the show daily. However, he insisted that the show has a problem “where we create narratives that do not exist in reality.”

When asked about Redick’s comment, Perkins appreciated the critique. He explained that his viewpoint was inspired by what many “former African-American players have been feeling for decades.”

There has been a full-scale racial battle on NBA Twitter due to this incident, with some defending Perkins’s stance and others condemning his “race-baiting” behavior and thanking Reddick for addressing the claim on national television.