Denver Nuggets center won the 2020-21 NBA MVP award on Tuesday. He enjoyed a fantastic season and was a deserving winner. Plus, basketball fans had the opportunity to remember that Jokic was technically announced as a Braft pick during a Taco Bell commercial. Overall, it was a positive story but, as often, the full selection of voting results provided fuel for confusion. This time, the initial reaction centered on New York Knicks guard Derrick Rose inexplicably receiving a first-place vote.
MVP Voting results pic.twitter.com/GRsa2CeENv
— Blake Murphy (@BlakeMurphyODC) June 8, 2021
Rose enjoyed a nice season for the Knicks and he was a key piece of their turnaround after arriving in a mid-season trade. However, no one could rationally believe he was even a fringe MVP candidate, much less a first-place consideration, and many people pointed that out by saying the culprit of the vote should be removed from future ballots.
Whoever gave Derrick Rose a first place MVP vote should not be able to vote for anything ever again
— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) June 8, 2021
Individual ballots come out after all awards are announced and if the person who voted for Derrick Rose for MVP isn’t stripped of their vote, we riot https://t.co/1H9hjXumWl
— (Hire) Jacob Rude (@JacobRude) June 8, 2021
Whoever gave Derrick Rose a 1st place MVP vote should not be allowed to vote in anything ever again.
— Justin Russo (@FlyByKnite) June 8, 2021
It ultimately didn’t impact the final outcome, thank god, but whoever used a first-place vote on Derrick Rose for NBA Most Valuable Player should either never have the opportunity to vote again or get an atomic wedgie.
— Chris Walder (@WalderSports) June 8, 2021
In another subplot, Rose received as many first-place votes as Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid, who finished second in overall voting.
https://twitter.com/pickuphoop/status/1402411638905618433
joel embiid got as many first-place votes as derrick rose? giving a player from an 8th place team a 3rd place vote?
whew. https://t.co/qi23pattTI
— Brendan Darr (@BrendanDarr) June 8, 2021
Derrick Rose got the same amount of 1st place votes as Joel Embiid?! #HereTheyCome pic.twitter.com/0S2rqTtNpr
— Branded (@branded_sports) June 8, 2021
Derrick Rose got as many first-place votes as Giannis and Embiid. https://t.co/pbLt9V4n05
— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) June 8, 2021
It wasn’t just Embiid either, as Rose got more votes than many legitimate superstars.
Derrick Rose got more 1st place MVP votes than:
Luka Doncic
Damian Lillard
Kawhi Leonard
LeBron James
James Harden
Julius RandleWhoever voted for Derrick Rose should never be able to vote again. pic.twitter.com/ZmfVXOBUDH
— StatMuse (@statmuse) June 8, 2021
After a few moments of genuine disbelief in the basketball world, word broke that there was at least a slightly more reasonable explanation. Evidently, a fan vote was responsible for Rose’s first-place slot.
Jokic wins, Embiid 2nd, Curry 3rd.
Derrick Rose got an MVP first-place vote. League source tells AP it was not from media; it was the consensus fan vote.
And LeBron James’ streak continues: 18 years with at least one MVP vote.
— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) June 8, 2021
The first-place vote for Derrick Rose was a cumulative fan vote for the MVP award rather than a media member, league spokesman Tim Frank confirms.
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) June 8, 2021
There is an entirely different argument about how Rose would even make the top of that list, particularly with the league overflowing with exciting star talent. Still, the madness did make for some entertainment and jokes in the minutes following the announcement, and it’s better that the winner at the top of the ballot wasn’t controversial.