NBA
Jackson apologizes: My mistake, Jokić is all-time great!
Former NBA point guard and coach Mark Jackson has been working in the media for a long time and was a panel member that voted for the MVP 22/23 award.
There was a lot of commotion among the public after it was revealed that Jackson had failed to include Nikola Jokic in his list of the top five players of the season when he cast his vote. For several days, NBA fans and media personalities had been speculating about the identity of the one voter who had left out the Denver star from their MVP ballot following Joel Embiid’s win last week. On Thursday, the NBA disclosed the voting ballots for this year’s MVP award, ending this mystery. This decision was criticized, and Jackson acknowledged his error by taking to social media.
“Made an honest mistake with my MVP votes. My apologies to the Denver Nuggets and Nikola Jokic. He’s not only a legitimate MVP candidate who deserved my vote, but he is one of the all-time greats! Again my apologies,” tweeted Mark Jackson.
Jackson played in the NBA from 1987 to 2004 and was also a member of the Nuggets in the 1996/1997 season. As the head coach, he led the Golden State Warriors from 2011 to 2014 and Steve Kerr’s arrival as the coaching staff’s head.
This is what Jackson's top five list looked like:
- Joel Embiid
- Giannis Antetokounmpo
- Jayson Tatum
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- Donovan Mitchell
Charles Barkley rant
Charles Barkley criticized the unidentified voter who did not include the current leader of Denver’s top-seeded squad, the two-time reigning MVP, in their ballot. This happened on Monday before Jackson’s ballot was revealed. He had some “nice words” said in the on-air program.
“There’s one person—I don’t even know this fool’s name—didn’t even have [Jokic] in the top five. People like that shouldn’t get a vote ... He’s a damn idiot.”
The comments on this post reveal that NBA fans were quite harsh towards Jackson and his MVP nomination.