NBA

Stephen Jackson sounds off on Joel Embiid's MVP snub

With Nikola Jokic one-upping Joel Embiid in the MVP voting, former NBA champion Stephen Jackson thinks the system needs to change right now.

Joel Embiid & Nikola Jokic
Ā© Mitchell Leff/Getty ImagesJoel Embiid & Nikola Jokic

The votes are in, and Nikola Jokic was named MVP for the second straight season, as most people expected. Then again, one can’t help to feel that, as deserved as his MVP was, Joel Embiid also got kind of snubbed.

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In reality, both players were deserving of the award. In fact, I think no one would’ve complained if the league decided to hand out a co-MVP this season. They were both spectacular and the most valuable players on their teams and the league as a whole.

But it’s not like the Denver Nuggets had a true chance to win the NBA championship. That’s why former NBA player Stephen Jackson believes that the league should change its voting system and let the players vote instead of the media.

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NBA News: Stephen Jackson Says The Voting System ā€˜Fcked’ Joel Embiid

ā€œSome kind of way we’ve got to get a hold of this voting sh*t, man,ā€ Jackson said. ā€œJokic is great, better than I ever was. I ain’t taking nothing from him, but he is not a back-to-back MVP just like Steve Nash wasn’t a back-to-back MVP. These are just facts, man.ā€

ā€œIts other players having great years — career years — whose teams have a chance to win the championship,ā€ Jackson added.ā€œAnd if you know the game, you know Denver did not have a chance to win the championship. That’s just speaking facts, not taking nothing from him. Just the facts, bro.ā€

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ā€œAll these people that never made a basket or got a rebound voting, living their dreams through a keyboard and messing up the game and affecting people’s careers,ā€ Jackson continued. ā€œI got an idea: the Top-75, why don’t you let them vote? The Top-75 players of all time, let them vote for the MVP every year. It’s that simple. Stop letting these people vote, who are living their dreams through a keyboard and never had a chance to take a shot, get a rebound, or a charge. For real, this [expletive] is crazy. Joel Embiid, you got f***ed.ā€

That’s an interesting and fair take right there. The players should decide who gets paid, who gets the votes, and who gets the recognition. They know the game better than all of us do or ever will. Get to it, Adam Silver.

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