Former NBA stars JJ Redick and Kendrick Perkins got quite heated with each other during an episode of ESPN’s First Take.
The two now-analysts had a pretty fiery back-and-forth after Redick called out Perkins for implying that there was a racial bias in the MVP voting.
The 2008 NBA champion appeared on the show the previous week and wasn’t happy that Nuggets star Nikola Jokic was in line for his third-straight MVP award.
In his tirade, he accused the Serbian of ‘stat-padding’ in order to average a triple-double this season.
Perkins seemingly took issue with the fact that Redick hadn’t mentioned that the only three players to be crowned NBA’s MVP without finishing top 10 in scoring since 1990 had all been white.
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Those players being Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash, and Jokic.
Although Lakers great Magic Johnson claimed the award for the third time in 1990 after missing out on the top 10 in scoring that year.
The pair had been bickering about the matter since, and then it all finally came to an explosion on the latest episode of First Take.
Redick dismissed the idea that NBA writers favour white players when it comes to MVP voting.
He said: “Stephen A. (Smith), I mean no offence to you and I mean no offence to First Take.
“But what we just witnessed is the problem with this show, where we create narratives that do not exist in reality.
“The implication, what you are implying, that the white voters that vote on NBA are racist, that they favour white people, you just said that.”
Perkins fired back claiming that wasn’t what he was implying, however, Redick wasn’t backing down.
Redick continued: “Yes you did [imply that].
“That is exactly what you implied Kendrick Perkins … We all know what you implied the other day. We all know what you implied just now.”
Clearly not happy with the way the argument was going Perkins got real animated and began shouting back.
He fired back: “I did not, I stated the facts!
“And you’re not about to sit up there and act like it’s something more than that. It’s the facts!”
While things got loud and contentious, the pair later calmed down and were able to exchange pleasantries.
They shared their respect for each other and expressed the importance of having uncomfortable conversations.
Topics: NBA, Basketball, US Sports
Jayden Collins