NBA Twitter was dumbfounded Derrick Rose got a first-place MVP vote

NBA Twitter was in shock on Tuesday night after learning Derrick Rose received a first-place MVP vote.

Few were surprised on Tuesday night when Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic was named NBA MVP. We’ve been presuming that for months now. But NBA fans were absolutely dumbfounded when the full tally of votes was released.

As reported by Blake Murphy of The Athletic, New York’s Derrick Rose was one of six players to receive a first-place vote for the 2020-21 NBA MVP award.

Yes, that’s right, the same Derrick Rose who played just 35 games this season, with all but three of them off the bench. Though he had a good season for the New York Knicks, the 2011 MVP has never truly regained his form after multiple knee injuries.

After a historic season offensively, Jokic could darn well have won MVP unanimously, though we can see how Stephen Curry, Joel Embiid, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Chris Paul managed some first-place votes. But Derrick Rose? Really?

Derrick Rose gets an MVP vote… in 2021

It’s been a long time since a New York Knick won the NBA MVP award. Center Willis Reed won it all the way back in 1970.

Our first thought was that perhaps a New York-based writer mailed in a homer ballot this year. However, The New York Times writer Marc Stein clarified how Rose wound up with a first-place vote:

Truthfully, we forgot there was even such a thing as a cumulative fan vote, but leave it to New Yorkers to make sure a Knick would be the one to get it. Somewhere, Luka Doncic and Damian Lillard are shaking their heads. LeBron James is fuming.

Here’s how the rest of NBA Twitter reacted to the news of Rose’s MVP vote.

We can’t wait to see what Rose himself has to say about this. No doubt it makes him want to stay in New York even more now.