Charles Barkley rips Kendrick Perkins for suggesting racial bias plays role in MVP voting

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Basketball Hall of Famer Charles Barkley ripped into Kendrick Perkins’ suggestion that race plays a role in NBA MVP voting when it comes to Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic.

Barkley talked about Perkins’ remarks on Denver’s Altitude Sports Radio with Vic Lombardi, Marc Moser and Brett Kane. The former Phoenix Suns star said he didn’t believe Jokic was worried about what pundits were saying about him on ESPN’s "First Take" to begin with.

Perkins suggested there was a racial bias since three players since 1990 have won an MVP despite being outside the top 10 in points per game: Jokic in his first MVP campaign in 2020-21, Dirk Nowitzki (2006-07) and Steve Nash (2004-05, 2005-06). All three are White.

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Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) brings the ball up the court during the third quarter against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center in Houston Feb 28, 2023. (Troy Taormina/USA Today Sports)

"I’m pretty sure he don’t give a damn about those idiots talking about him on TV either," Barkley said. "If I know the Joker, he probably just got out of bed. Probably got a good night’s sleep. The Nuggets, they won a tough game last night. Mike Malone probably should’ve given them the day off and let them sleep in the day after that game. I’m pretty sure he’s not in for all this silliness. 

"You can’t tell me, because the numbers don’t make sense. … Does he know how many voters are White actually or did he pull 80% out of his a--? My point is if only five White guys have won MVP in the last 30 years, that makes zero sense — his argument. Zero sense. Because if that was the case, we’d have