NBA news: Former Milwaukee Bucks sharpshooter JJ Redick has been moving up the ladder in ESPN. In fact, reports state that he could be in line to be part of the network’s A-team amid ESPN’s vicious set of summer layoffs.
Redick got himself in a handful of controversies on his way to the top, though. In fact, this might be one of the main reasons why he’s gotten there in the first place. One particular incident that stands out is his heated on-air debate against ESPN co-host Kendrick Perkins, whom Redick labeled as a “racist” while they were arguing about Nikola Jokic’s MVP credentials.
NBA News: Kendrick Perkins Clears the Air Over ‘Racist’ Nikola Jokic Debate
Earlier this year, Perkins and Jokic had a very interesting conversation surrounding Jokic’s claim for the MVP title. Redick called Big Perk out because the former believed that Perkins had some racially charged undertones in one of his statements about the Nikola Jokic vs. Joel Embiid MVP race:
“What we just witnessed is the problem with this show, where we create narratives that do not exist in reality,” Redick said in March (h/t Jenna Lemoncelli of the New York Post). “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.”
Perkins vehemently denied the accusations as he argued that he was merely presenting facts. Redick obviously did not agree.
Fast forward a few months later and Perkins was asked to discuss this subject on a recent episode of the Pat Bev Pod. Big Perk made it abundantly clear that he has no beef with the former Bucks shooting guard, but that at the same time, he also completely disagrees with Redick’s “racist” claims:
“I love JJ Redick,” Perkins said (h/t Trevor Booth of ClutchPoints). “Here’s the thing. The only problem that I have with JJ is when he said I accused people of being racist. … I never accused nobody of being racist. Correct me if I’m wrong, racist is that you hate someone of another color.
“When (former United States president Barack) Obama ran for president, I know Black people out of my community that never voted in they life. Me, personally, I never voted in my life. You know I rushed to go vote for Obama because I actually wanted to see a Black president in office? Does that make me racist? Does that make a Black person racist? No! It don’t! … Just because you may be rooting for someone of your own kind doesn’t make you a racist.”
"Racist means that you hate someone of another color… Just because you root for someone of your own kind doesn't make you racist."
Kendrick Perkins addressed the Nikola Jokic MVP argument that he had with JJ Redick 🗣️
(via @PatBevPod)pic.twitter.com/gkgRxMa5Cl
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) August 9, 2023
It appears that this is now all water under the bridge for both Perkins and Redick. After all, the MVP vote has been cast, and it was Joel Embiid who emerged as the top player in the league this past season.What you can say for sure is that there’s going to be a lot more colorful, and honestly, quite entertaining arguments between Big Perk and JJ on ESPN this coming season.
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