Mark Jackson Called Out After His NBA MVP Ballot Surfaces
The NBA released the voting ballots for this year’s MVP award Thursday and fans were finally able to see who the lone voter was that didn’t include Nuggets center Nikola Jokić on their ballot. The culprit was none other than ESPN’s Mark Jackson and fans let him have it online.
The former Warriors coach and current ESPN broadcaster was the sole voter who didn’t place the reigning two-time MVP among his top five candidates for the award this year. In order, Jackson went with Joel Embiid, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Donovan Mitchell for his ballot.
Jackson was the only voter to not have some combination of Embiid, Antetokounmpo and Jokić in their top three as well. Embiid went on to win the award, as announced last week.
Jokić has won the last two MVP awards and finished this past season averaging almost a triple double with 24.5 points, 11.8 rebounds and 9.8 assists per game. He also led the Nuggets to the top seed in the Western Conference.
Naturally, the sports world crushed Jackson once they learned he was the voter who didn’t have Jokić on their ballot. Here’s what Twitter had to say:
So...Mark Jackson was the one who didn't have Nikola Jokic on his MVP ballot at all.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) May 11, 2023
Joel Embiid
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Jayson Tatum
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Donovan Mitchell
I'd love to hear that explanation.
Are they gonna ask mark jackson to explain not voting for Jokić entirely
— Dom2K ???????? (@Dom_2k) May 11, 2023
I wanna hear it
Mark Jackson. Certified fool. https://t.co/oXIJtccNWK
— D-Line (Eric Wedum) (@DLineCo) May 11, 2023
The lone voter who left Nikola Jokic off their MVP ballot is... Mark Jackson.
— Ben Standig (@BenStandig) May 11, 2023
Mama, there goes that voter. https://t.co/R3T99gpRHS
Mark Jackson left Nikola Jokic off his MVP ballot entirely pic.twitter.com/XOuvw3HEcg
— Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) May 11, 2023
People are gonna talk about Mark Jackson not giving Jokic an MVP vote, but,
— Ethan Fuller (@ethman43) May 11, 2023
Don’t overlook him giving Donovan Mitchell an MVP vote but giving Jaylen Brown the All-NBA 1st team vote instead of Mitchell lol https://t.co/zRr48iM1nh