Kendrick Perkins on Thursday criticized Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki and Nikola Jokic for winning the MVP Award and alleged that the NBA has different standards for black players regarding the voting process for the award.
“When we talk about the MVP conversation, is it Oochie Wally or is it One Mic? That’s what Jay-Z said. I just want to know what song are we dancing to. Because when I’m walking into the club, I got my jays on, I didn’t know it was a dress code to put on church shoes,” he began.
“When I say that and when I come here and ask what is the criteria for the MVP and how the goalpost is moved, I’m asking these questions for a reason,” he said. “When I look at JJ and hear him talk because he’s so big in analytics and he’s a historian when it comes down to diving in deep and going back into history and talking about the evolution of the game.”
“Why didn’t he bring up this particular subject – when it comes down to guys winning MVPs since 1990, it’s only three guys that won the MVP that wasn’t Top-10 in scoring. Do you know who those three guys were? Steve Nash, Jokic, and Dirk Nowitzki. What do those guys have in common? I’ll let it sit there and marinate, you think about it,” Perkins said.
‘Why is this subject not brought up?’
Kendrick further continued, “When you go back and look at that 2006 roster that Kobe was playing with, they finished no. 7 in the Western Conference with that roster, which I don’t understand how he did it with the team he had. No disrespect to those players but it is what it is. How was he not winning it leading the league in scoring that year?”
“Why is this subject not brought up?” Perkins asked. “We’ve moved the goalposts so much. Don’t come giving me that they’re the number one seed in the Western Conference this year and he’s averaging a triple-double, that’s why he should be the clear-cut favorite. They weren’t the number one seed last year, they were the number six seed – one see from being in the play-in tournament. That my whole thing – why we move the goalposts for certain people and then for others we don’t?”
Perkins ended the conversation by saying, “When I was trying to make a case two years ago for Chris Paul when I was saying ‘hey, you know what, the Phoenix Suns, Chris Paul, same organization, same position, same results, why’s he not getting the love that Steve Nash was getting when he was in Phoenix for as the MVP candidate or being the MVP frontrunner?’ Am I missing something here, am I missing?”