Inside The Heat

Could Kendrick Perkins' Claim Of MVP Voting Racial Bias Have Impacted Steve Nash/Shaquille O'Neal Race in 2005?

Perkins suggested the vote is favored toward white players
Shandel Richardson|
Could Kendrick Perkins' Claim Of MVP Voting Racial Bias Have Impacted Steve Nash/Shaquille O'Neal Race in 2005?
Could Kendrick Perkins' Claim Of MVP Voting Racial Bias Have Impacted Steve Nash/Shaquille O'Neal Race in 2005?

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ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins is known for pushing buttons with his opinion. 

His latest comments regarding the NBA MVP race are perhaps his most controversial. On ESPN's "First Take" Wednesday, Perkins suggested there is a racial bias against black players in the NBA vote. He pointed out only three white players _ Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki, Nikola Jokic _ have won the award without ranking among in the Top 10 in scoring since 1990. 

“What do those guys have in common?” Perkins asked. “I’ll let it sit there and marinate. You think about it…When it comes down to moving the goal posts for certain individuals to win it, again, is it Oochie Wally? Or is it One Mic? What song are we actually dancing to right now, why is this subject not brought up?”

The Miami Heat were involved when Nash won his first MVP in 2005. Many felt Heat center Shaquille O'Neal, in his first season, should have won the award. It was a close race after Nash averaged 15.5 points and led the league with 11.5 assists while leading the Phoenix Suns to an NBA-best 62 wins, a 33-game improvement from the previous season. 

O'Neal made a similar impact in Miami, averaging 22.9 points, 10.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.3 blocks for the Heat, who improved by 17 games and made the Eastern Conference finals. 

Still, Nash edged ONeal in first-place votes (65-58) and total points voting (1,066-1.032). While Perkins' claim may be considered invalid, he at least created a talking point. 

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Shandel Richardson covers the Miami Heat for Inside The Heat.

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Shandel Richardson
SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star. TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com You can subscribe to our YouTube channel here Follow all of our Miami Heat coverage on Facebook here

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