NBA Champion Stephen Jackson Sounds Off on MVP Voters, Favoring Joel Embiid

After months of online and on-air debates regarding the NBA MVP winner, the league will soon announce the 2021-2022 NBA MVP with a formal announcement.

According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, the plan is for the league to crown Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic as the league's Most Valuable Player for the second-straight season.

That leaves Philadelphia 76ers All-Star center Joel Embiid as a runner-up for the award for the second year in a row.

To many current and former NBA players, Embiid was deserving of the award. Unfortunately for the five-time All-Star, media members decide on the winner. And to a former NBA Champion like Stephen Jackson, that's something that needs to change after he heard this year's final results.

Stephen Jackson Sounds Off

"Some kind of way we've got to get a hold of this voting [expletive], man. Jokic 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.

Its other players having great years — career years — whose teams have a chance to win the championship. And 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. All 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. I 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 [expletive].”

Stephen Jackson says Joel Embiid was robbed of the NBA MVP award https://t.co/uWFXGM0WfV
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Despite leading the league in scoring as a center for the first time since Shaquille O'Neal did it in 2000 and being one of the most dominant centers on the defensive side of the ball, Embiid didn't win over the media this year.

In the eyes of Jackson, Embiid had the better season. Unfortunately for the Sixers star, Jackson's proposal to allow former players to make the decision won't change the outcome. Jokic will inevitably be crowned MVP for the second-straight season.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.

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