Doug Gottlieb doesn’t think former Division I college basketball player and current Countdown host Maria Taylor is qualified to vote on who the best NBA players are.
It’s an odd take from the FOX Sports Radio host, because if you’re able to remove fandom from the judgement, pretty much anyone who watches the sport with some regularity should be able to fairly assess who the best players are. But shortly after the All-NBA teams were announced, Taylor’s voting submission was released and shared by Lakers beat writer Harrison Fagen to note that she left Anthony Davis off her ballot.
Despite Davis earning a spot on the first-team, social media criticized Taylor’s ballot, with Gottlieb leading the charge and questioning, why is she even allowed to vote? Taylor admitted overlooking Davis was a mistake.
The timing of Gottlieb’s opinion made this an especially hot take, with Taylor being unfairly placed in headlines just days earlier after now-former 670 The Score host Dan McNeil posted a misogynistic tweet about the ESPN contributor. But Gottlieb was surely aware of the timing before posting the critical tweet of his own that triggered plenty of reaction.
For the second time in a week, Taylor was on the defense, touting her credentials as someone who covers the league for The Worldwide Leader. But Gottlieb didn’t waver.
I don’t expect Gottlieb to call them all out, but there are certainly more unqualified sports award voters. Baseball writers can be voting on who should be elected into the Hall of Fame a full decade after they stopped covering the sport. Mike Francesa still votes on the Heisman Trophy winner even after he admittedly forgot to turn his ballot in eight years ago.
More than Gottlieb questioning Taylor’s credentials as an All-NBA voter, the hotter take in his tweet is just the idea that the award requires specific qualifications to properly judge who the best basketball players are. It’s not that hard.
Brandon Contes is a former reporter for BSM, now working for Awful Announcing. You can find him on Twitter @BrandonContes or reach him by email at Brandon.Contes@gmail.com.
