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Andrew Bogut disses Mark Jackson for Harden MVP nod

By CM Towle

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Golden State Warriors center Andrew Bogut is not fond of former coach Mark Jackson’s Harden for MVP endorsement.

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The race for the NBA MVP award is pretty competitive this year and there’s been a fun war of words to go with it. The latest is Warriors center Andrew Bogut taking a big exception with former coach Mark Jackson endorsing James Harden for the MVP honor, according to a story by Bleacher Report. On Thursday, Jackson went on for a radio interview where he stated that Curry was his guy, but he had to go with Harden for MVP. Jackson said he would vote for Harden because he feels that he has single-handedly put the Rockets in the position they’re in. That position is one of a 52-24 team that is only behind the Warriors in the Western Conference.

Bogut didn’t like this stance, however. When asked about Jackson’s endorsement, he called it an April Fool’s joke. Later, when asked about it again, he apparently forgot who Jackson even was.

Obviously there’s little love lost between the Warriors and Jackson, and especially on Bogut’s end it would seem. Jackson was fired in last season’s off-season after the Warriors lost in the first round of the playoffs in seven games to the Clippers. The previous season, the Warriors departed in the second round to the Spurs. However, the majority of Jackson’s problems in the organization were with staff and management, less so with his players. In fact, he was reportedly very close with Steph Curry, the very guy he passed up for MVP in endorsing Harden. On the other hand, it was just the opposite from Bogut’s point of view.

As previously mentioned, the MVP race is pretty tight with all names mentioned deserving consideration. Jackson certainly has a point with regard to Harden, but on the other hand, a huge part of the Warriors’ success has been Curry. They have not been the same team when he’s been out, if only briefly. Half the time, they’re not the same team when he’s resting during the game. Usually if he’s out in the fourth quarter it’s because the Warriors and Curry have demolished their opponent through three.

Bogut’s defense of his teammate makes sense though and it’s also possible he’s miffed at Jackson not endorsing Curry when Curry very publicly defended him and supported him before he was fired. Jackson tried to defend his position after the radio interview saying that his comments were not who he wanted to win the MVP award, but rather who he thought should win it.

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