Charles Barkley slams Kendrick Perkins’ suggestion Nikola Jokic wins MVPs because he’s WHITE
Charles Barkley attacked fellow NBA analyst Kendrick Perkins, saying the ESPN personality was wrong to suggest that Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic’s two MVP awards are the product of racism.
“I always talk about ESPN’s sickness,” said the Basketball Hall of Famer and longtime TNT analyst. Denver Altitude Sports Radio. “A lot of these guys, when they get on TV and stuff, they’re like, ‘Well, I’m on ESPN, I have to say something provocative.’ And you know what happens, you’re always going to have some suckers out there, you probably have some suckers calling to agree with him.
“That’s what bothers me sometimes,” Barkley continued. ‘I can promise you this, I’ve never said anything on TV just to get clicks. That’s not to say that I was right or wrong, whatever. But I’ve never said something like, “Well, I know people will react and go crazy, let me just say this.”
Perkins, a former NBA center, seemed to suggest last week that Jokic benefits from racist white MVP voters in the media.
“When it comes to guys who’ve won MVPs since 1990, it’s just three guys who’ve won MVPs that weren’t in the top 10 in scoring,” Perkins said on ESPN’s First Take, listing three white players. 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. Think about it.
Charles Barkley (left) attacked fellow NBA analyst Kendrick Perkins (right), saying the ESPN personality was wrong to suggest that Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic’s two MVP awards are the product of racism.
“When it comes to MVP voting, 80 percent of the voters are white Americans,” he said Tuesday, without citing a source for his information.
Jokic, a native Serb, was sixth in the NBA in scoring last season with 27.1 points per game when he won his second straight MVP, a year after finishing tied for 10th with 26.4 per clip.
Of course, it’s Jokic’s overall play that has positioned him for a third straight MVP in 2022-23, as he threatens to become just the third player in league history to average a triple-double, after Oscar Robertson. and Russell Westbrook.
Entering Wednesday, the 28-year-old was averaging 24.4 points, 11.8 rebounds and 10 assists per game while shooting an impressive 63.4 percent of his field goals, 40.4 percent of his 3-point attempts and 82.2 percent of his shots. free shots. .
Perkins also suggested that Jokic has been increasing his stats at the cost of his team’s success, but the Nuggets have actually won the last 28 games in which the multi-talented center has posted a triple-double.
Jokic, a native Serb, was sixth in the NBA in scoring last season with 27.1 points per game when he won his second straight MVP, a year after finishing tied for 10th with 26.4 per clip.
Jokic, who is known for seeming aloof even when dominating the NBA, has stayed out of the debate for the most part, which Barkley found amusing.
“I’m pretty sure he doesn’t give a damn about those idiots talking about him on TV either,” Barkley said. ‘If I know the Joker [Jokic], probably just got out of bed. She probably slept well. The Nuggets won a tough game last night. Mike Malone probably should have given them the day off and let them sleep the day after that game. I’m pretty sure he’s not into all this nonsense.
Continuing his attack on Perkins, Barkley also ripped up the ESPN analyst’s statistics, specifically, the claim that 80 percent of voters are white.
“You can’t tell me, because the numbers don’t make sense,” Barkley said.
‘Does he know how many voters are actually white or did he get 80 per cent off his ass? My point is that if only five white men have won MVPs in the last 30 years, that doesn’t make sense: his argument. Zero sense. Because if that were the case, we would have a lot more white MVPs. …Wouldn’t the numbers be much, much worse?
“And this is what bothers me as well,” Barkley continued. Man, race is such a touchy subject because so few people have a pure heart. We can talk about race all you want as long as you’re fair and honest. But slander this man [Jokic] in this situation it’s just total BS.’
Kendrick Perkins took to Twitter to make his point after arguing with Redick at First Take
Part of the debate over Jokic’s MVP awards stems from differing ideas of what the award means.
Jokic is undoubtedly just one of several players considered among the best in the world, along with the Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Suns’ Kevin Durant, the Lakers’ LeBron James, the Mavericks’ Luka Doncic, the 76ers’ Joel Embiid and others. . But it’s the success of his team (the Nuggets lead the West at 46-19) along with his overall performance that has positioned Jokic for a third MVP.
And as Barkley pointed out, the best players don’t necessarily win MVP, historically speaking. He told Denver’s Altitude Sports Radio that Michael Jordan was arguably the best player in the league in 1993, but Barkley won MVP that season because the Suns had the best record in the league and he was the best player in Phoenix.
JJ Redick and Kendrick Perkins argued as host Stephen A. Smith looked on
Barkley isn’t the only NBA analyst to disagree with Perkins.
On Tuesday’s episode of ESPN’s First Take, he received a response from former NBA guard JJ Redick, who took issue with the suggestion that voters are racist.
“What we’ve just witnessed is the problem with this show, where we create narratives that don’t exist in reality,” Redick said. ‘The implication, what you’re implying, that white voters who vote in the NBA are racist, they favor white people. You just said that.
Perkins replied, ‘I didn’t,’ before shouting, ‘I laid out the facts!’ repeatedly.
Perkins continued his argument on Twitter, later writing: ‘Last year I went ac***. This year I am racist. Well, damn it, what is it? IT’S NOT EITHER. I explain the facts and I’m not afraid to talk to the elephant in the room.’