Kendrick Perkins had a scathing assessment of one specific NBA team on Monday.
Perkins said on ESPN’s “NBA Today” that the Phoenix Suns have “quit” on head coach Mike Budenholzer. The former NBA champion went further and marveled at how the Suns have stopped competing, and said they should be embarrassed by the situation they are in.
“A disaster. A team that has quit on their coach,” Perkins said. “If I’m Mike Budenholzer, to be honest, it’s no more rankings in the locker room. It’s no more franchise guys. I’m playing the guys that are going to compete for me. If that means Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal not getting the minutes, then so be it. At this point, he has nothing to lose.
“In my 14 years of playing, I have never been part of a team that has quit on their coach. Before we won the NBA championship, I was on a team that lost 18 games in a row, but we competed. We were turning over the ball, little mental mistakes, we just didn’t have it. But as far as competing? This is an embarrassment, not only to the Phoenix organization, but to the rest of the NBA. You have so many guys that are going to be Hall of Famers on that team, especially Kevin Durant and Devin Booker.”
"Dallas' season is over, and they are literally moving backwards down the sidewalk and Phoenix still can't catch them."@KendrickPerkins and @LegsESPN discuss the struggles of the Suns and their chances to make the play-in tournament. pic.twitter.com/dVkuXT90RN
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) March 17, 2025
Perkins’ assessment is tough to argue with. The Suns have lost 15 of their last 21 games, and Durant and Budenholzer are seemingly at odds with each other. That popped up again during Sunday’s loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Reports emerged Monday suggesting that the Suns might be able to appease Durant and Booker by firing Budenholzer. That only reinforces the point Perkins is making.
One has to question whether the Suns should bother trying to placate Durant. This iteration of the roster has not worked, as a similarly-constructed team was swept in the first round of the playoffs last season under coach Frank Vogel. Beal has been a major disappointment, and as much as the Suns would like to get rid of him, his no-trade clause makes that virtually impossible.
The Suns are essentially tied to their current core unless they decide to completely blow it up. There appears to be a good chance that they do just that in the upcoming offseason. Until then, the Suns appear to simply be playing out the rest of their schedule, even though they remain firmly in the playoff race.
Sunday’s loss dropped Phoenix to 31-37 on the season. They are 1.5 games back of the injury-riddled Mavericks for the final play-in spot in the Western Conference.
