Former NBA player JJ Redick got into a heated argument during Tuesday’s edition of ESPN’s “First Take” after fellow commentator Kendrick Perkins seemingly implied Nikola Jokic is only a contender for the MVP award because he is white.
Redick, who had an NBA career spanning 15 seasons, maintains a regular slot on “First Take” to discuss topics related to professional basketball. He and fellow commentators Stephen A. Smith and Kendrick Perkins discussed the prospect of Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic winning the Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) on Tuesday’s episode.
If Jokic wins MVP in 2023, he would be the fourth NBA player to win the honor three consecutive times, joining Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain and Larry Bird. Redick accused Perkins of implying MVP voters are showing favoritism towards Jokic because he is white.
“What we’ve just witnessed is the problem with this show. Where we create narratives that do not exist in reality,” Redick said. “The implication, what you are implying, that the white voters that vote on NBA are racist, that they favor white people, you just said that.”
Uh oh, JJ Redick just went on ESPN and accused them of making up racism narratives. Good for Redick. He’s 100% right here. Kendrick Perkins said last week Jokic is getting the MVP because he’s white. pic.twitter.com/F3VhHPShMo
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) March 7, 2023
The dialogue between the two quickly devolved into an intense argument, with both men raising their voices. Perkins denied implying Jokic’s MVP considerations are due to his race.
“That is exactly what you implied,” Redick said as Perkins interjected to defend himself.
“I stated the facts!” Perkins yelled, interrupting Redick.
“We all know what you implied the other day,” Redick said.
Redick referred to a March 1 segment of the show in which Perkins listed past MVP winners who were not ranked top 10 in league scoring. All three winners were white, and Perkins seemingly implied they won due to racial bias.
“When it comes down to guys winning MVP since 1990, it’s only three guys that won the MVP that wasn’t top 10 in scoring,” Perkins said. “Do you know who those three guys were? Steve Nash, [Nikola] Jokic and Dirk Nowitzki. Now, what do those three guys have in common? I’ll let it sit there and marinate. You think about it.”