ESPN’s Mark Jackson admits Nikola Jokic blunder after MVP ballot criticism
Mark Jackson #MarkJackson
Two of the most tantalizing mysteries in the history of sports media have been solved.
It’s been a matter of intrigue that one NBA MVP voter had left Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic entirely off the top five of his ballot.
It wound up being Mark Jackson, which then begged the question, how could someone who played and coached in the NBA and calls games for ESPN have such a remarkable oversight?
“Mistake,” Jackson told Justin Termine and Eddie Johnson on the SiriusXM NBA channel Thursday afternoon.
“One thing I live by, you make a mistake, you own it. I’m not a guy that does it for clicks or to be trending. Absolute mistake made by me. I am thinking, how did I make that mistake? You can tell I put one center, two forwards and two guards, so I wasn’t even thinking.”
Jackson’s ballot had included Joel Embiid, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Donovan Mitchell.
He apologized directly to the Nuggets and Jokic for the error.
Mark Jackson admitted he made a mistake in keeping Nikola Jokic off his NBA MVP ballot.Getty Images
“I apologize to the Denver Nuggets. I apologize to Nikola Jokic, who is not only in the MVP discussion and deserved to be on my ballot, but he’s one of the greatest players in the history of this game,” Jackson said.
“He’s a top-10 center of all-time. I own it. If you want to take away my vote, or do whatever, more than welcome, I made a mistake.”
Jackson acknowledged he still would’ve voted for Joel Embiid first for MVP, but reiterated that Jokic deserved to be on the ballot.
Nikola Jokic finished second, behind Joel Embiid, in the 2022-23 NBA MVP voting.Getty Images
Earlier this week before, before Jackson was revealed to be the one who omitted Jokic, Charles Barkley spoke on TNT’s “Inside the NBA,” and said that people who left Jokic off the ballot “shouldn’t even get a vote.”
Host Ernie Johnson responded he was hoping that he was hoping the Jokic snub was a “clerical error,” and Barkley attributed it to being a “damn idiot.”