Kendrick Perkins took aim at his former teammate Kevin Durant during a Twitter beef that got personal on Thursday night.
Matters began when Perkins tweeted early Thursday that he was going on “SportsCenter” to share his opinion on why Russell Westbrook is “Mr. Thunder” and the best player to ever play for the Thunder.
Perk’s declaration was clearly a shot at Durant, because KD is widely recognized as a superior player to Westbrook but left the Thunder. Celtics media personality Marc D’Amico called out Perkins for the take, and the two traded responses.
He put together the best career within that organization, but he’s definitely not the best player to have ever put on a jersey for them. Cmon Perk!
Perkins then broke out the bazooka, calling out Durant for making the “weakest move in NBA history” for leaving the Thunder to join the Warriors.
Boy stop you did the weakest move in NBA History!!! Up on a team 3-1 in the western conference finals and then go join them the following season?! Heart of Champion right there
Durant told someone else he responded to Perkins because the former Thunder center has been jabbing him for a while, so he decided to finally hit back.
Haha Nah perk just been shooting his lil shots at me for a minute.
Durant may regret things, because Perkins delivered the knockout blow, hitting Durant deep by saying the former MVP “took the coward way out” by joining the Warriors.
That’s fine!!! You worked that hard and still had to go join a 73-9 team. Truth be told you don’t even feel like a real Champ, you have hard time sleeping at night huh knowing that you took the coward way out!!!
That sort of barb gets under Durant’s skin and hits him right in his biggest insecurity. Perkins knew exactly where to get his former teammate and didn’t hold back.
A tweet sent by Kendrick Perkins on Friday night received plenty of attention in the form of likes and retweets, and it contained quite a claim.
Perkins suggested that Kyrie Irving planned his shoulder injury so that the guard would avoid the Brooklyn Nets’ game in Boston on Wednesday.
Kyrie looked at the schedule before the season started and planned this whole injury thing because he didn’t want to go back to Boston this upcoming week!!! He didn’t want that smoke in the Bean Town. Smh
Irving has not played since a loss to the Denver Nuggets on November 14 due to a shoulder impingement. Irving actually suffered the injury in the team’s previous game against Utah on November 12 but played hurt against Denver. He has not played since then and has missed four games.
On Friday, the Nets announced that Irving would miss the team’s 3-game road trip, which includes games against the Knicks, Cavs and Celtics.
After being evaluated this evening, it has been determined that Kyrie Irving will miss the team’s upcoming three-game road trip (NYK, CLE, BOS) according to the #Nets. He will be re-assessed once the team returns.
Irving had a tumultuous final season in Boston and likely would have received a harsh reception. Before the season, he said he was going to re-sign with the team. But then the team’s season went terribly, and he became a target for blame due to leadership issues. Irving ended up leaving the Celtics to sign with the Nets in free agency.
We love a good conspiracy as much as anyone, but suggesting Irving planned a shoulder injury that far in advance that would cost him seven games and potentially a shot at a contractual bonus for games played is quite the stretch. We’d say that Perkins was joking, but the former Celtic has so many biases and has ripped Irving in the past, so it’s very possible he was completely serious.
Kendrick Perkins was critical of the Golden State Warriors even when they were dominating the entire NBA en route to multiple championships, so it’s hardly a surprise that the former NBA big man is wasting no time dumping on them now that they are rebuilding.
As the Warriors were getting blown out for a second straight game against the Oklahoma City on Sunday, Perkins said he views this season as an opportunity to see what Stephen Curry and Steve Kerr are really made of. In Perk’s mind, not having Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant is not an excuse to fall into the toilet.
Thunder giving Golden State that work right now! It’s no Fun when the Rabbit got the Gun! Now we get to see what Steve Kerr is really about!!!
We calling our Kerr but same for Steph. His job is to keep them in games no matter what. The same way Russ, Bron and other elite players had to do when they were short handed.
Getting blown out is not excused when you’re elite.
Perkins thinks Curry — a two-time NBA MVP — is overrated. He crushed him during the NBA Finals last season and said he comes up small in big situations but always gets a pass from the media. If Curry can’t carry the Warriors to at least a decent season, Perkins will likely feel his point has been proven.
Of course, Perkins is biased. His Cleveland Cavaliers teams lost to the Warriors twice in the NBA Finals, and he has a history of bad blood with Curry and some of his teammates. A lot of people are going to enjoy watching Golden State struggle this year, and Perkins is certainly among them.
One of the concerns surrounding Zion Williamson now that his NBA career has begun is his weight, and Kendrick Perkins thinks the former Duke star will have to work extra hard to avoid culinary temptations in New Orleans.
Perkins, who spent a season with the Pelicans, said there are going to be people in New Orleans offering Williamson good eats everywhere he goes. The retired big man said the Pelicans better lock Zion away if they want to keep him in shape.
Pelicans better lock Zion in the House because I can hear those good people in New Orleans saying “Hey Baby you want some Fried Gator Baby” I’m telling y’all I played for the Pelicans and it’s FOOD everywhere!
Williamson is listed at 285 pounds, which is heavy for a player who is about 6-foot-6. Most of that has to do with his incredible strength, but he suffered a knee injury in his first Summer League game and also got hurt during the NCAA Tournament back in March, though that injury was more of a fluke. The Summer League injury was the result of knee-to-knee contact, so it’s hard to argue that either had to do with Williamson’s size.
Like any other star player, Williamson will have to keep an eye on his weight and conditioning. While his strength is an asset, he can’t let one too many bowls of gumbo turn his impressive stature into a liability.
There were rumblings of Kevin Durant leaving the Golden State Warriors well before last season began, but Kendrick Perkins believes the team had a solid chance to re-sign him right up until the incident between Durant and Draymond Green.
“I think, in my opinion, KD never bounced back from the Draymond situation. … The Warriors tried to clean it up by suspending Draymond,” Perkins said. “They suspended Draymond and then about two months later, the owner comes back out and says he wants Draymond there for life.”
Perkins said he has gotten into heated arguments with almost all of his teammates but they “never crossed the line” the way he feels Green did. It was reported at the time that Green told Durant the Warriors don’t need him and challenged him to leave in free agency. Perkins believes that was “the last straw” for Durant.
“It’s hard to overcome that,” Perkins said. “Those were some harsh words. … I think that was the last straw.”
Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving have each had their fair share of well-documented differences with their teammates, but one retired NBA player who shared a locker room with both does not envision any of that carrying over now that they are joining forces with the Brooklyn Nets.
Kendrick Perkins, who played with Durant in Oklahoma City and Irving in Cleveland, told Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated that it will be “great for KD and Kyrie to be in the New York area.” He also said Durant was not feeling appreciated enough with the Golden State Warriors.
“I have no doubt they will co-exist,” Perkins said of Irving and Durant. “Kyrie needs to be able to play freely and just be himself and let KD be the leader and the playmaker. I think Kyrie will fall in line. After he left Cleveland he called ‘(LeBron James) to apologize to him. He realized that he is not that dude and that he needs to play alongside a guy like KD.”
The last part will probably be the most interesting storyline to watch in Brooklyn. Perkins added that Durant has finally “got his own team,” but you have to wonder if Irving views it that way. While it’s true that he called LeBron last season to apologize for how he acted in Cleveland, that does not mean he wants to take a back seat to Durant. Irving is confident in his abilities, and he probably thinks he’s the same caliber of player as Durant.
Perkins’ assessment of the situation essentially confirms what was reported about Durant’s desire to leave Golden State, but very few people would be surprised if he experienced some growing pains with Irving — especially since Kyrie is going to play a full season with the Nets before Durant even touches the floor. That could make things more complicated than they are anticipating.
There are many New York Knicks fans who wish they could have Kristaps Porzingis back to pair with one or two star free agents this offseason, but former NBA big man Kendricks Perkins was fully in favor of the trade the team made to send Porzingis to the Dallas Mavericks.
Appearing on ESPN’s “The Jump” Friday, Perkins said Porzingis is not the type of player he would want to build a team around because he doesn’t like big men who are “divas.” He also said he can name 20 players in the NBA whom he would take over Porzingis. You can hear the comments at around the 1:10 mark below:
The Knicks have the most cap room of any team this summer – but will they land the top free agents who'd fill it? Did they really need to trade Kristaps Porzingis to open up that second slot? @KendrickPerkins says even if a second guy doesn't come, he's happy the Knicks dealt KP. pic.twitter.com/Tj2kaGYbSc
“I’ve just never been high on a big man that’s a diva, and I feel like he’s a diva to the max,” Perkins said. “I could name 20 players that I’d take over Porzingis right now in this league. … I think they made the right decision. They got him up out of there, with all the off-court issues.”
Porzingis was involved in a physical altercation in his home country of Latvia last month, but the Dallas Mavericks said he was attacked and will not be disciplined over the incident. A video that circulated on social media showed an irate Porzingis walking outside a bar bleeding from the head.
That isn’t the first time Porzingis made headlines for the wrong reasons since the Mavericks acquired him, though his attorney insists the sexual assault allegations against him are completely baseless. No charges have been filed against the 23-year-old.
The sky is seemingly the limit for Porzingis, and he should find plenty of success playing with Luka Doncic in Dallas. We’ll have a better idea in a few year of whether or not Perkins is right that the Knicks made the right deal.
Kendrick Perkins has made it no secret that he is not a Stephen Curry fan, and it is no surprise that he seems to be celebrating the fact that the two-time NBA MVP came up short of winning a third consecutive championship this year.
After the Golden State Warriors lost to the Toronto Raptors in Game 6 of the NBA Finals, Perkins ranted on the “Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective Show” podcast about how Curry continues to get “pass after pass after pass” for poor performances in big games.
“I feel like it’s unfair because any other superstar in the league don’t get as many passes as Steph Curry,” Perkins said. “Steph Curry gets pass after pass after pass, and he never steps up to the big plate. Think about this, the shots that Klay Thompson hit tonight, they wasn’t just easy shots. He had two or three people on him at times.”
Perkins went on to call Curry an “all-time great” and said he is not trying to take anything away from him, but that seems to be exactly what he is doing. Perk also tweeted during Game 4 that he expected everyone to make excuses for Curry and say Thompson’s return had a negative impact on him.
I guess Klay return is messing up Steph rhythm? That will be the excuse everyone gives him tomorrow!
— Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) June 8, 2019
Whether you want to label it an excuse or not, it does seem that people talk
a lot about nagging injuries every time Curry has a rough game in the postseason. He shot just 29.4 percent from three-point range over the last three games of the NBA Finals and 40.3 percent from the field overall. Curry was battling a finger injury that he admitted was an issue, but almost everyone is playing hurt to some degree in the playoffs.
All that said, it’s impossible for Perkins to convince anyone he is unbiased. His Cleveland Cavaliers teams lost to the Warriors twice in the NBA Finals, and he has a history of bad blood with Curry and some of his teammates. It makes sense that he pounced on the opportunity to bash Curry for a rough postseason.
Kevin Durant got pestered by the LA Clippers during the first round of this year’s playoffs, but one of his old teammates is hinting that there could be much more to come for the two sides.
FOX Sports 1’s Kristine Leahy tweeted a clip on Wednesday of an upcoming interview of hers with former NBA big man Kendrick Perkins, who played with Durant on the Oklahoma City Thunder for five seasons. In the clip, Perkins spoke on the possibility of the superstar forward signing with the Clippers in free agency this summer.
We shot this yesterday… Here’s @KendrickPerkins telling us don’t be surprised if @KDTrey5 (his close friend) winds up with the Clippers. Full two part episodes air June 4th and 5th. pic.twitter.com/R4ZDkCmCaN
“Don’t be surprised if KD signs with the Clippers,” he said. “Everybody keeps screaming New York, but don’t be surprised if KD signs and goes to play for [Clippers head coach] Doc [Rivers].
“I don’t even have to help recruit,” continued Perkins, who also played seven seasons for Rivers on the Boston Celtics. “He likes the organization. He likes Doc Rivers. He loves Doc Rivers.”
While Durant’s future will likely depend on if he wins a third straight title with the Golden State Warriors this year, the back-to-back Finals MVP has thus far been Eurostepping any talk about his summer plans. That said, the Clippers, who just won 48 games without a superstar on the roster, boast organizational stability, strong leadership and culture, and a quality young core poised to compete for many years to come. Couple that with their ability to offer max money in a marquee market, and it makes for quite a strong sell to Durant.
The Boston Celtics were eliminated from the NBA playoffs on Wednesday night after a disappointing season, and 24 hours did not even elapse before Kyrie Irving started taking criticism. The latest has come from former Celtics center Kendrick Perkins, who called Irving “disrespectful” and a “bad leader.”
Perkins joined “The Herd with Colin Cowherd” for an interview on Thursday and shared his feelings on Irving.
“I think Kyrie, the way he went about it, was disrespectful to the city of Boston, was disrespectful to the organization,” Perkins said. “And he didn’t represent what Celtic pride is all about. I spent my first eight and a half years of my career in Boston and those fans are unbelievable, the organization is unbelievable, the history of the franchise in itself is unbelievable. And the way Kyrie went about it, ‘OK, yeah, I struggled. OK, on to the next game.’ Kinda like the, ‘I don’t care’ attitude. Just basically, throughout the whole process, I thought he had got it, but he was just a bad leader and he didn’t represent was Celtic pride was about. It was proven, in my opinion, he’s not a Batman. He’s a great player, Kyrie is an elite player, but he’s not a Batman. He’s a Batman when he’s on the team with LeBron (James), but he’s not a Batman. He can’t carry his own team.”
"In this series I think the way Kyrie went about it was disrespectful to the city of Boston, disrespectful to the organization and he didn't represent what Celtic Pride is all about… He was a bad leader and it was proven he's not a Batman." — @KendrickPerkinspic.twitter.com/OcUQG8rJ6V
Irving had a horrendous series against the Milwaukee Bucks, which ended in five games. He shot just 35.2 percent from the field for the series and was particularly bad over the last four games, all of which they lost. That came after he spent the season telling the media to trust his leadership as he tried to follow the LeBron James playbook. He has since proven he is not LeBron James and has taken criticism from many, including an anonymous teammate.
