The NBA, NFL, MLB, and NHL are all in a race to be the most woke of all the sports leagues.
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is leading the charge by pushing so-called “social justice” down the throats of fans.
But now Charles Barkley just shut down this ESPN race-baiter with one epic sentence.
Charles Barkley was a bully on the basketball court.
As a six-foot-six power forward, he needed to become one of the best rebounders in the history of the NBA.
But as tough as he was on the court, Barkley’s words are often even tougher.
Can a white player be MVP?
Barkley recently went after a former NBA star and current ESPN analyst who implied it was racist to vote for a white player for the NBA’s MVP award.
On a recent episode of Stephen A. Smith’s First Take on ESPN, Kendrick Perkins, a journeyman Center who now is paid to be a basketball analyst, argued against the idea of Denver Nugget All-Star Nikola Jokic winning a third straight MVP award.
Kendrick Perkins of ESPN claims Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets has been the two-time NBA MVP because of his race
"When it comes to MVP voting: 80% of the voters are White American. 20% are others" pic.twitter.com/2yPbnRWMiA
— Eric Abbenante (@EricAbbenante) March 7, 2023
Why?
Because not only are there some white members of the award voting pool, but Jokic, who is from Serbia, is also white.
Apparently, in Perkins’ mind, the only way a white player can win MVP is due to racism.
Along with arguing against Jokic, Perkins went back in history to disparage the MVP honors of Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash by noting that, like Jokic, they didn’t lead the league in scoring in their MVP years.
Of course, there’s a lot more that goes into MVP voting than merely points per game, including assists, rebounds, defense, team performance, etc.
In the video, Perkins says it’s a fact that 80% of award voters are white.
ESPN had to apologize because Kendrick Perkins falsely said on air 80% of NBA MVP voters are white. The fake MVP racism argument continues to blow up on ESPN’s face: pic.twitter.com/ebF2Jtcugt
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) March 8, 2023
However, ESPN had to issue a correction and admit that the pool of voters is far more diverse that Perkins claimed.
Sharpshooting legend JJ Redick also took offense to Perkins’ claims of racism.
JJ Redick condemns First Take and pushes back on Kendrick Perkins alleging NBA MVP voters have a racial bias against Black players: pic.twitter.com/7pOMmGW4AH
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 7, 2023
“What we just witnessed is the problem with this show, where we create narratives that do not exist in reality,” Redick said. “The implication, what you are implying, that the white voters that vote on NBA are racist, that they favor white people, you just said that. Yes, you did. 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.”
But Reddick could barely get his words out before an angry Perkins shouted him down.
Sir Charles puts the debate to rest
But someone who isn’t easily backed down in the paint is now going one-on-one with Perkins.
When asked about the controversy, Charles Barkley – a former MVP winner in his own right – pulled no punches.
In fact, Sir Charles shutdown Perkins’ comments with one sentence.
“That’s asinine and silly,” Barkley said. “Asinine, silly, and stupid.”
Barkley then tried to educate Perkins.
“It’s a regular season award – it ain’t who the best player is,” Barkley said. “It’s who had the best regular season. But every year, ESPN gets these fools on radio and TV to talk about who’s the best player […] Michael Jordan probably was the best player in the NBA for, probably five years, before he won MVP, because his team was no good.”
