If the Denver Nuggets needed any motivation to be at their best this season, they got all the fuel they would need from Kendrick Perkins.
Perkins appeared on ESPN’s “Get Up” Tuesday morning and was critical of the Nuggets. The former NBA center-turned-analyst declared that the Nuggets were “not a threat” in the West. He added that the team had been “exposed.”
“The Denver Nuggets are not a threat in the Western Conference,” Perkins said. “The Denver Nuggets are not that damn good. JJ Redick has exposed something about the Denver Nuggets that I’m starting to see teams do. If you make the Denver Nuggets shoot threes. You take away cutters and you double team Jokic, you’re going to win games and win a playoff series against the Nuggets. They’re not a legit threat.”
Kendrick Perkins on Get Up this morning:
— SportShorts (@den_shorts) March 4, 2025
“The Denver Nuggets are not a threat in the Western Conference… JJ Redick has exposed something about [them]”
If I’m Coach Malone, I’ve got this clip on repeat in the locker room before every game. pic.twitter.com/YyqOzCGqdW
Perkins’ comments come in response to the Nuggets having lost three of their last five games as of Tuesday. The team lost to the Lakers by 23, at Milwaukee by 9, and at Boston by 7 on Sunday. Perkins seems to think that if the Nuggets lose a few games in late February/early March, that means they are toast.
Of course, Perkins is the same analyst who had something against Nikola Jokic two years ago during the NBA MVP discussion. So it shouldn’t come as a big surprise that he is looking to knock the Nuggets at any chance he gets.
The Nuggets won the NBA Finals two years ago. They went 57-25 but lost in seven games to the Timberwolves in the conference semifinals last year. They entered play on Wednesday 39-22, which had them third in the West.
