According to Charles Barkley, the voting for the MVP race this season will be the closest since he got “robbed” by Magic Johnson 35 years back.
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Now that the 2021-2022 regular season is nearing its end, it is pretty safe to say that this campaign has turned out to be a pretty enjoyable one. With many more teams having a legit shot at winning the Larry O’Brien trophy, the MVP race couldn’t have been any closer than it is now.
Currently, Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Joel Embiid are three of the frontrunners to lift the Maurice Podoloff trophy. However, the list of deserving candidates doesn’t stop there. Jayson Tatum, Devin Booker, Luka Doncic, and DeMar DeRozan are all a few more players who are having a sensational year.
Also Read: When Charles Barkley revealed just how frugal the Bulls legend was
Giving his two cents on the MVP race, Charles Barkley believes that the votes this year is going to be the closest since he got “robbed by Magic Johnson” back in the 1986-1987 season. On his appearance on the “Dan Patrick Show”, Sir Charles said:
“Joel was playing at a hell of a level before the James Harden trade. And you consider they were in the top three or four without Ben Simmons. But listen, he had faded a little bit. But like I say, Joker (Nikola Jokic) has been there and he’s playing at the same level. Devin Booker gets no love and he deserves some love. This is gonna be, in my opinion, probably the closest vote since I got robbed by Magic Johnson in 1986-87.
Charles Barkley reveals why he feels he got robbed by Magic Johnson for the MVP honors 35 years back
When asked why he thought he was robbed of the prestigious honor, Barkley said:
“A 100% I got robbed because if you go back, it was the closest vote ever and what bothered me about it was I got all the first-place votes and I didn’t get any second and third place votes which is impossible like if I get all the first-place votes, the worst I’m gonna get is second or third. So if you go back and look at the voting, I got all the first-place votes and then I didn’t get any second and third place votes and I was really pissed about that.”
Judging by what Barkley said, one would naturally assume he finished 2nd in the voting only behind Magic Johnson. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case. The then-Philly forward finished 6th in the race behind the likes of Johnson, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Dominique Wilkins.
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However, Charles was right about this year’s MVP race going down to the wire. With only a few games remaining for the conclusion of the regular season, it’ll be interesting to see how the performance in the last week impacts the race.
