It was not a friendly environment Tuesday on ESPN’s “First Take.”
Last week, controversial NBA analyst Kendrick Perkins made headlines when he suggested MVP voters are racially biased towards white players. For proof, Perkins cited the conversation about Denver’s Nikola Jokic possibly winning his third straight MVP, even though he's not a top-10 scorer.
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Perkins said Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash are the only other MVPs since 1990 to not finish in the top 10 in scoring, either.
“What do those guys have in common? I’ll let it sit there and marinate. You think about it,” said Perkins.
On Tuesday, JJ Redick returned to the analysts’ desk, and slammed Perkins for his insinuation.
“I mean no offense to you, Stephen A., and I mean no offense to ‘First Take.’ I think this show is extremely valuable. It is an honor to be on this desk every day. It really is,” he said. “But what we’ve just witnessed is the problem with this show. We create narratives that do not exist in reality. The implication, what you are implying, that the white voters who vote on NBA are racist — that they favor white people. You just said that.”
Perkins, though he may have a larger point about racial bias among some NBA writers, doesn’t come off well in this exchange. Instead of engaging with Redick, the ex-Celtics center just started screaming.
“I did not! I did not! I did not! I stated the facts! I stated the facts! It’s the facts! It’s the facts!,” he screamed.
Perk continued his bombastic self-defense on Twitter. “A Speaker of TRUTH has no friends!!!,” he wrote.
Then he threatened to expose former NBA head coach George Karl.
As mentioned earlier, it’s fair to suggest there are racial components at play when it comes to evaluating NBA players, or other players across pro sports. We’ve seen it happen time and time again.
But implying that NBA MVP voters favor white players, and then just shouting when questioned, isn’t the way to hold that conversation.
Perkins is spitting fire without offering substance.