After facing criticism from NBA enthusiasts for leaving Nikola Jokić off his MVP voting ballot, ESPN’s Mark Jackson offered an explanation regarding his decision to exclude the Nuggets star from his top five.
Jackson, a longtime NBA analyst and former point guard and coach, found himself in hot water after Thursday’s unveiling of the voting results for the 2022-23 MVP award revealed he was the only voter to exclude Jokić from their ballot. Jackson’s vote included a top five comprised of Joel Embiid, who won the award on May 2 and Giannis Antetokounmpo–candidates chosen by all 100 voters—as well as Jayson Tatum, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Donovan Mitchell.
A few hours after the news, Jackson addressed the controversy during an appearance on SiriusXM NBA Radio, where he admitted his head-scratching decision was a “mistake” before noting it had nothing to do with disrespecting the two-time MVP.
