James Harden is now getting buckets for the Brooklyn Nets, but one of his former teammates is making a surprising relevation about where Harden nearly ended up instead.
Appearing over the weekend on a Boston Celtics pregame show, ex-Celtic Kendrick Perkins said that then-president Danny Ainge consulted him last year about the possibility of a Harden-Jaylen Brown swap.
“I remember last year around this time when teams were calling about James Harden and Houston actually wanted Jaylen Brown,” said Perkins, per TalkBasket. “I was on the phone with Danny Ainge for an hour, and I remember how our conversation went. He was like, ‘Hey, Perk, would you trade Jaylen Brown for James Harden?’ And I was like, ‘Danny, you know how I feel about Jaylen Brown, but I would trade him for James Harden.’ He was like, ‘Are you kidding me? He’s not going anywhere. He’s not even 25 and he keeps getting better.’”
Perkins was teammates with Harden on the Oklahoma City Thunder for two seasons from 2011 to 2012. His comments here are surprising because they make it sound like the Rockets were willing to trade Harden to the Celtics. Ainge also apparently had people in his ear telling him to pull the trigger, but his belief in Brown may have been what ultimately nixed the deal.
Though he has since stepped down as president of the Celtics, Ainge has been proven right in the early going this season. Brown put up a ridiculous 46-9-6 line against the New York Knicks during Boston’s season opener and looks poised for his best year yet. Meanwhile, Harden is struggling in several regards so far this season.
The former MVP Harden is still one of the best players in basketball. But the Celtics were probably right to keep their homegrown star who is seven years younger and has plenty of upside of his own.
Photo: Feb 16, 2021; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Brooklyn Nets guard James Harden (13) reacts against the Phoenix Suns at Phoenix Suns Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Nerlens Noel thinks that you should probably check Kendrick Perkins’ back for marionette strings.
The New York Knicks big man took another shot this week at ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins. After recent reports had suggested that agent Rich Paul of Klutch Sports wanted his client Tyrese Maxey out of Philadelphia, Perkins tweeted that those claims were false. Noel responded by tweeting an image of Pinocchio at Perkins.
The implication Noel appears to be making is that Perkins is a puppet of Klutch Sports as well as a liar.
Noel, a former client of Paul and Klutch, filed a lawsuit against them last month claiming tens of millions of dollars in lost wages. That led to Perkins calling him out on Twitter, to which Noel replied by hinting that Perkins was getting paid off by Klutch.
The former lottery pick Noel has certainly taken notice of Perkins defending Klutch online at seemingly every turn. Now we will have to wait and see if and how Perkins responds to Noel this time around.
Kendrick Perkins thinks that Nerlens Noel is capping in his recent lawsuit against former agent Rich Paul and Klutch Sports.
The retired center turned ESPN analyst Perkins tweeted a shot at Noel this week. Perkins said that Noel needed to tell the truth about the situation and made a reference to Noel’s previous agent before Paul, Happy Walters.
Noel responded by tweeting a screenshot of the details of his suit, including that Paul allegedly ignored teams that were interested in signing Noel. The ex-lottery pick also hinted that Perkins was getting paid off by Klutch with the hashtag “#ThatCheckAintBigEnough” and tweeted a clown emoji at him in a subsequent post.
Perkins fired back by tweeting a dismissive meme at Noel.
What we do know is that Noel is seeking $58 million in lost wages from Paul and Klutch Sports. Noel claims that Paul gave him bad advice that led to him turning down a four-year, $70 million contract from the Dallas Mavericks in favor of a one-year qualifying offer worth $4.1 million. You can read the full details of Noel’s lawsuit here.
As for Perkins, there is no evidence that he is actually on Klutch’s payroll. But he is close friends and former teammates with Klutch’s marquee client.
Draymond Green definitely had all of the receipts saved.
After Team USA Basketball won the gold medal in Tokyo this week, Green took an opportunity to troll all of the analysts who had overreacted to their string of losses in exhibition play last month.
Green targeted ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins, FOX Sports’ Colin Cowherd, and several others in a series of tweets. Here were some of the best ones.
Green even exposed France’s Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot for saying that they would defeat the United States in the gold medal game.
The victory marks Green’s second Olympic gold medal to go along with three NBA titles. That puts him in an elite class that is only occupied by players like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Michael Jordan.
The Tokyo triumph has to feel particularly sweet for Green. He already got some more trolling in on Instagram immediately after the win.
Kendrick Perkins had a tough time offering analysis of Arkansas guard Moses Moody’s selection during the NBA Draft on Thursday. It wasn’t because he didn’t know who Moody was or hadn’t seen him play. It was because Perkins just couldn’t handle the name.
The Golden State Warriors selected Moody with the 14th overall pick in the draft. When it came time for Perkins to offer his take on the selection, things didn’t go very well.
Perkins got there in the end, and to be fair, Moody’s name can be a bit of a tongue-twister if you’re trying to say it quickly. Still, plenty of people are having a good laugh at Perkins’ expense over this one.
Perkins has become known for his blunt and occasionally unpopular opinions, many of which he shares on the air. Some people he’s taken aim at probably won’t be too upset to see Perkins fumbling through his words like this.
It’s safe to say Giannis Antetokounmpo shut down his doubters with his dominant NBA Finals performance, and a victory lap is warranted.
Antetokounmpo’s girlfriend Mariah Riddlesprigger is quite happy to take that victory lap. One of her targets was ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins, who has repeatedly called Giannis a “Robin” compared to Khris Middleton’s “Batman.” The criticism from Perkins is that Giannis prefers to let Middleton handle closer duties in crunch time.
After Giannis dropped a Batman-like 50 points in the Milwaukee Bucks’ Game 6 clincher, Riddlesprigger indicated that she’s been paying attention to the criticism. She shaded Perkins on Twitter by celebrating Giannis’ accomplishment, concluding the tweet with the phrase “carry on,” which is the same phrase Perkins ends many of his opinionated tweets with.
Giannis appeared to be a fan of the approach.
Perkins deserved to get roasted for that take. It was bad even before Giannis dominated the Finals, and his MVP performance just made Perkins look even sillier. It’s no wonder another NBA player has publicly referred to Perkins as a “clown” before with takes like that one.
If Kendrick Perkins is looking to go viral for making absolutely ridiculous comments, he is succeeding.
Perkins, a former NBA center who is now an analyst for ESPN, has been critical of Giannis Antetokounmpo. He described Giannis as more of a “Robin” with Khris Middleton operating as the “Batman” for the Milwaukee Bucks this postseason. Perkins says that Antetokounmpo has lacked a “Batman” mentality, meaning he is not trying to take over and dominate. Instead, he believes Giannis has been content letting Middleton take over.
The comments are silly.
Giannis is an awesome player, but nobody can carry a team by themselves. Kobe needed Shaq and then Pau Gasol to win. LeBron James needed multiple All-Stars surrounding him in Miami, Cleveland and LA to win. Michael Jordan had Scottie Pippen. So ripping someone for entrusting a talented teammate is silly. The comment looks even worse when Giannis, a week after suffering a knee injury, scores over 40 points in consecutive games during the NBA Finals.
Giannis’ Milwaukee Bucks beat the Phoenix Suns 120-100 in Game 3 on Sunday night, completely reshaping the way the NBA Finals now look. And Perkins was actually complimentary of Antetokounmpo after the game.
But now you can understand why another NBA player has called Perkins a “clown.”
The Portland Trail Blazers held the Denver Nuggets to just 95 points on Saturday night, which may have come as a shock to Kendrick Perkins. Jusuf Nurkic was more than happy to rub it in Perkins’ face.
After the Nuggets beat Portland in Game 3 on Thursday night, Perkins tweeted that Nurkic and Enes Kanter are the two worst defensive big men in the NBA.
Portland’s win on Saturday tied the series at 2-2. Nurkic had 17 points, six rebounds, two blocked shots and a steal. When speaking with the media after the game, he referenced the “clowns” who called him one of the worst defensive bigs in the year. He then went right at Perkins.
Perkins was known as a solid defender during his NBA career. He was instrumental in helping the Boston Celtics win a championship in 2008, but he makes more headlines with his hot takes as an ESPN analyst than he did while he was playing.
Kanter knows all about having public disagreements with Perkins.
Photo: Frenchieinportland/Wikimedia via CC-by-SA-4.0
The New York Knicks drafted Obi Toppin with the No. 8 overall pick in Wednesday night’s NBA Draft, and many people feel they got a great value with the former Dayton star that far down the board. As far as Kendrick Perkins is concerned, Toppin was a steal.
Perkins said on ESPN’s “First Take” Thursday morning that drafting Toppin was the best thing the Knicks have done in a decade. He strongly believes Toppin can help rescue one of the most tortured franchises in sports.
“This is the best thing the New York Knicks have done in the last 10 years. He’s electrifying. He’s box office. He reminds me a lot of Blake Griffin when he was coming out,” Perkins said. “He’s gonna fill up seats. He’s must-see TV. He led college with 107 dunks last year and I’m not talking about Kendrick Perkins-type dunks — little one-hand and two-hand flushes. I’m talking about between the legs, windmilling and all. And he can stretch the floor. He’s ferocious and he’s ready.”
There has been some talk about the Knicks potentially making a big trade for a player like Russell Westbrook. If that happens, Perkins thinks Knicks fans should get their popcorn ready.
“New York fans, y’all have something to be proud about and be happy about,” Perkins said of Toppin. “You can get the popcorn popping again back in Madison Square Garden. If the Knicks can pull off a trade for Russell Westbrook, you might as well add the butter to the popcorn. I’m all-in with Obi Toppin to the New York Knicks. I think they hit a home run.”
Perkins went on to call Toppin “a dog” and say he feels the Knicks won the draft by getting him. In a draft that was not considered all that deep, the claim is not as wild as it sounds.
Toppin was National Player of the Year at Dayton and averaged 20.0 points and 7.5 rebounds per game as a sophomore last season. He made an impressive 63.3 percent of his field goals. There are questions about his defense, but one NBA star went out of his way to praise Toppin after the Knicks took him.
While few are higher on Toppin than Perkins, the general consensus seems to be that the Knicks made a smart pick at No. 8.
Lou Williams fired back Monday after being criticized by Kendrick Perkins for visiting a strip club while out of the NBA bubble.
Perkins urged Williams to “do better” on Monday’s edition of “Get Up!” after the veteran guard was caught at a strip club while outside of the NBA bubble due to a death in the family. Perkins added that it was disappointing to see rookie Zion Williamson handle himself more professionally than Williams, a veteran, after Williamson left the bubble for similar reasons and followed protocol.
Williams wasn’t interested in hearing it, firing back at Perkins on Twitter.
Williams, for the record, has made it pretty clear that he’s a huge fan of the wings. He’s maintained that was the only reason why he was at the club, and it had nothing to do with him partying or being irresponsible. In this case, his love of those wings means he’ll have to spend ten days in quarantine.
Perkins has really embraced his role as an analyst and commentator. This isn’t the first time he’s clashed with a current player over something he said on TV.
