Charles Barkley isn’t done denouncing Kendrick Perkins and his controversial comments about NBA MVP voting.
Barkley cracked a joke Thursday during TNT’s “Inside the NBA” that referenced the ESPN analyst, who has been under fire this week for implying there is racial bias in MVP voting and that white writers are favoring two-time MVP Nikola Jokić, who is white.
It all began when Shaquille O’Neal revealed Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo as his pick for the 2022-23 NBA MVP.
“I know they have a lot of talk on who is the MVP,” O’Neal said.
Moments later, Barkley chimed in and said, “You’re only voting for him because he’s black.”
The “Inside the NBA” crew, including Jamal Crawford, who was subbing in for Kenny Smith, shared a laugh.
Crawford then summoned host Ernie Johnson to take over the commentary.
“OK, save us, Ernie,” Crawford said, laughing.
Two days prior, Barkley called the comments made by Perkins “asinine, silly, and stupid,” during a radio appearance on Denver’s Altitude Sports Radio.
Barkley’s assessment came after the radio hosts played a clip of Perkins on “First Take” saying: “When it comes to MVP voting, 80 percent of the voters are white Americans. 20 percent are others.”
At the time, Perkins was immersed in a heated debate with fellow ESPN analyst JJ Redick, who slammed his colleague for “implying that the white voters that vote on NBA are racist, that they favor white people.”
Barkley questioned Perkins’ claims that the majority of NBA MVP voters are white and it was “one of the stupidest things” he’s ever heard.
“Does he even know how many white voters are out there? Or did he just pull 80 percent out of his ass?” Barkley said, adding that Perkins “crossed the line” with his comments.
Barkley — who said that both of Jokić’s MVP awards were “well-deserved” — suggested that Perkins made his comments for clicks, and said it was a result of having “ESPN disease.”
“A lot of these guys, when they get on TV and stuff, they’re like, ‘Well I’m on ESPN, I got to say something provocative,’” Barkley said. “And you know the thing about it, you’re always gonna get some fools out there — you guys probably get some fools calling in agreeing with him. … I can promise you this: I’ve never said anything on television just to get clicks.”
Barkley added that the MVP race is a battle between Jokić, Antetokounmpo, and Sixers big man Joel Embiid.
“First Take” host Molly Qerim addressed Perkins’ statistics about white and black voter percentages on Wednesday, and issued an apology for incorrect information.
“I want to correct something here from yesterday’s show,” Qerim said. “When Kendrick Perkins said 80 percent of NBA voters for the MVP award are white, the NBA publicly announces the voters each year, and after review, it is clear the panel is much more diverse than what was portrayed by Kendrick Perkins and we wanted to make sure we corrected that today.”