Mark Jackson

The Nikola Jokić MVP snubber’s enigma has been cleared up. ESPN’s Mark Jackson, who was identified as the offender on Thursday, swiftly apologized.

Since the voting totals were made public, it has been obvious for more than a week that one MVP voter completely omitted the Denver Nuggets center from their list. Out of 100 voters, Jokić received 99 appearances total, including 15 first-place votes, 52 second-place votes, and 32 third-place votes.

Joki didn’t lose out on winning the MVP award for the third time in a row because of the snub; he still came in well behind Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid and his 73 first-place votes.

However, it did seem like a pretty apparent attempt to minimize his chances of winning, or at the very least, to take an ideological stance against his candidacy. He didn’t receive any votes for fourth or fifth place, after all.

On Thursday, the NBA disclosed the results of all 100 voters, bringing clarity to the situation. Only Jackson, the head coach of the Golden State Warriors and a former NBA All-Star, left Jokić off of his top five.

Instead, this is how he voted.

Mark Jackson’s NBA MVP Poll Excludes Nikola Jokić

1- Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid
2- Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo
3- Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum
4- G. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, OKC Thunder
5- G Donovan Mitchell plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Mark Jackson Justifies His MVP selection

Jackson came on SiriusXM less than two hours after that ballot was made public to defend himself. He apologized to Joki and the Nuggets and labeled the vote a “mistake,” explaining that he had assumed he was casting an All-NBA ballot.

Jackson stated that he would be able to accept losing his vote in the future.

“Mistake. I have a rule of thumb: If you make a mistake, own it. I don’t do it to get likes or to be in style. Absolute error on my part. I’m wondering how I could have made that error. You can tell that I wasn’t even thinking because I just used one center, two forwards, and two guards. I apologize to the Denver Nuggets and to Nikola Jokić, who is not only deserving of a spot on my ballot and one of the greatest players in the history of the game but also is currently in the MVP conversation. He is one of the best ten centers ever”.

Mark Jackson

So, I’m the owner. You are more than welcome to veto my vote or do anything else you like. I erred in judgment. Joel Embiid would have received my vote as MVP, but I would have placed Giannis and Joker second and third instead. They deserve it because he had an amazing year and keeps making history. I acknowledge my error and I’m sorry.

Mark Jackson

He apologized once more on Twitter, praising Jokić as an all-time great and a serious MVP contender.

Several people, including Charles Barkley, criticized Nikola Joki’s snub without realizing it was Mark Jackson.
As soon as NBA fans calculated the results last week, Jackson’s ballot came under fire, and one of the strongest comments came from Charles Barkley, a broadcasting colleague and fellow former NBA player.

During a discussion on “Inside the NBA” on Monday, the veteran TNT analyst attacked the Jokić snub:

“I’ve been having a problem with something. Regardless of how you voted, Joel, Joker, and Giannis should have all received the MVP award. One person, whose name I do not even know, did not even rank the Joker among the top five. Such individuals shouldn’t be allowed to vote.

“Over the past six months, we have discussed Embiid, Giannis, and the Joker. You don’t get a vote if you own a television or genuinely watch basketball and believe he shouldn’t have made the top five.

You might resemble some of the idiots we’re letting cast their votes for president over here. He is a complete moron.

It should be noted that voters have the right to omit a player from their ballot if they genuinely believe that he is not among the top five NBA players for a given season. But it’s obvious that wasn’t what actually happened.
You would have to keep your head in the sand for a very long period to come to the conclusion that Jokić shouldn’t be on an MVP vote at all, as Barkley and subsequently Jackson claimed.

He led his club to the best record in the Western Conference (53-29) while averaging nearly a triple-double (24.5 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 9.8 assists per game). He also shot a career-high 63.2% from the field.

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