Following the death of George Floyd at the hands of the police, protests erupted all across the country and they are still ongoing in some areas. Numerous sports leagues have taken a stand against racial injustice, including the NFL which plans to donate $250 million over the next 10 years as a way to combat systemic racism. Even the NBA has spoken up about racism as Adam Silver sent a memo to all of its teams.
However, not every NBA owner has come out and said something. Some figureheads like James Dolan have proven to be dormant in this time of need and this isn't sitting right with retired player Kendrick Perkins. During an appearance on ESPN's First Take, Perkins blasted the NBA's owners for not speaking up more and noted that it sets a bad example to the players who are hoping for some leadership and solidarity.
What makes this even more interesting is the fact that the NBA is expecting players to report to Orlando next month for the resumption of the NBA season. Some players have expressed wariness about returning to action as they don't want to distract from all of the protests that are going on.
With this in mind, things could get very interesting over the next few weeks.
Kendrick Perkins Makes Case For James Harden Over Steph Curry
Kendrick Perkins always comes through with some interesting arguments.
Kendrick Perkins has steadily been one of the more interesting basketball analysts to listen to since he retired. Most of the time, people disagree with whatever Perkins has to say but as someone who used to play in the NBA, he certainly has some valid criticism and praise to dish out. Today on First Take, the show revealed that in a top 15 NBA player ranking, James Harden was placed sixth while Steph Curry was fifth.
Following this revelation, Perkins went off on a rant about how Harden is actually a better player than Curry. While Curry has all of the rings, Perkins noted that Harden is a better scorer, passer, and rebounder which would by default make him better than Curry.
"James is a better scorer than Steph Curry. James is a better rebounder than Steph Curry. James is a better facilitator than Steph Curry," Perkins said.
Perkins' arguments are very sound here although, from a pure optics perspective, it's hard to put Harden above Curry. Curry is one of the best shooters of all time and will most likely be considered the best once all is said and done. Meanwhile, Harden has a history of choking in the playoffs which means you have to dock him a few points.
Let us know in the comments below where you fall in this debate.
Kendrick Perkins Says Rajon Rondo & Ray Allen Fought Each Other In Boxing Match
Rajon Rondo once was so mad with Ray Allen, the two had to box it out, according to Kendrick Perkins.
Former Boston Celtics Player Kendrick Perkins says Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen once held a boxing match, while beefing with each other.
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"It was a point in time where Rondo was up there as probably like top five point guards in the league," Perkins explained in an interview on SiriusXM NBA Radio, this week. "You had Derrick Rose, you had Chris Paul, and then the next person that was coming to mind was Rondo. Like a Tony Parker, but Rondo was right there. He was making multiple All-Star games, breaking assists records, getting triple-doubles. ... And it was the 2009-2010 season—no, 2008-2009, where [it] came up that, you know, New Orleans was—Chris Paul wanted out, I guess. And it was rumors started to circulate and it was brought to the table that what if we trade Rondo and get CP."
"It was even to the point where we brought boxing gloves to the gym and they got on boxing gloves," Perkins added. "We made them box it out for like two rounds."
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Kendrick Perkins Blasts Michael Jordan For Breaking Player Codes
Michael Jordan has been heavily criticized for his behavior in “The Last Dance.”
Basketball fans were captivated over the last five weeks due to the ESPN documentary about Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls called “The Last Dance.” Throughout the documentary, it became very clear that Jordan wanted to prop himself up while making some of his high-profile teammates look week. The likes of Horace Grant and Scottie Pippen caught quite a bit of flack from MJ and were the undisputed losers of the entire series.
During a recent episode of The Jump, Kendrick Perkins went off on Michael Jordan, saying that the Bulls legend broke numerous player codes throughout the documentary. He also said that it was unnecessary for Jordan to slander his teammates so hard because everyone is already aware of how good MJ is.
“Michael Jordan broke every player code imaginable… Some of the things he was saying with Scott Burrell, saying that he was in the club every night. Talking about what Horace Grant said about guys doing drugs, everyone except for him (Jordan). And then, ‘The Last Dance’ hurt Scottie Pippen. People today are looking at Scottie Pippen like a selfish individual,” Perkins said. “At the end of the day, ‘The Last Dance’ was to praise Mike — which it should have been — but you didn’t have to tear down other people to praise your greatness, because your greatness alone speaks volumes for itself.”
Perkins has had some pretty hot takes during his days as an analyst although this is one that we can probably all agree on. Jordan is a legend but “The Last Dance” was a puff piece that only served to make him look better.
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Kendrick Perkins Claims Kobe Bryant Was Easier To Beat Than LeBron
Kendrick Perkins had a lot to say about Paul Pierce's recent LeBron James slander.
Paul Pierce has had some harsh words for LeBron James over the last few days. It all started when Pierce claimed that LeBron wasn't a top-five player of all time. It then escalated yesterday as Pierce continued to note that LeBron has underachieved throughout his career and that some of his accomplishments with the Miami Heat were overrated due to certain circumstances.
Kendrick Perkins was disgusted with these claims and immediately clapped back at Pierce with an interesting opinion. As he explained, Kobe Bryant was easier to defeat than LeBron and that people need to stop hating on the three-time champion. Pierce obviously didn't agree but Perkins was fired up all the same.
“All I know is it was a lot easier to win against Kobe Bryant than it was LeBron James. You can talk if you want to talk, but I was right there in the thick of things with you. I know he (Pierce) had to really prep for LeBron James and when we got to the Lakers it was smacked up six,” Perkins said.
Perkins has been a staunch LeBron defender over the past few months which makes sense considering LeBron helped Perkins win a championship ring. Either way, some fans are going to have strong opinions about this take.
Let us know what you think, in the comments below.
Kendrick Perkins Speaks On Steph Curry Beef During 2018 Finals
Kendrick Perkins maintains that he never tried to harm Steph Curry.
Kendrick Perkins is a controversial man these days thanks to his peculiar hot takes in relation to the game of basketball. Perkins played in the NBA for just over a decade and was known as a big man who could do some real damage in terms of physicality. This has made him a polarizing analyst with many fans loving or hating him.
During a recent appearance on ESPN's "Hoop Streams," Perkins spoke about something that occurred near the end of his career. Of course, we are talking about the infamous Steph Curry tripping incident during the 2018 NBA Finals. As Perkins describes, he still doesn't know why Curry was mad and maintains that he never did anything wrong.
“First of all, I don’t know what I did wrong,” Perkins said. “Right? I’m sitting down. I didn’t move, I didn’t do nothing. I’m sitting down, chilling, right? I’m minding my business. We’re getting beat, he’s doing his thing. He said that I tried to trip him. I’m like, ‘Bro, I didn’t move my legs. I didn’t stick my leg out. I was sitting the same way the whole time. What are you talking about?’ ” And I was just like — you know what I told him? I said, ‘Steph, man. Chill out, man. For real, before I make you smell my cologne.’"
In the end, Curry got the last laugh as his team swept the Cleveland Cavaliers en-route to a third NBA title.
Kendrick Perkins Offers New Take On LeBron Vs. MJ Debate
Kendrick Perkins is weighing in on the debate that will simply never go away.
Ever since LeBron James started winning championships, people have tried to compare his career to that of Michael Jordan's. After all, Jordan was the most dominant player of his time, and LeBron was the same in his own generation. However, Jordan has six championships and LeBron only has three. Their NBA Finals records are on complete opposite ends of the spectrum and these days, it has become very hard for pundits to give LeBron the edge over MJ.
Today, LeBron's former teammate and NBA analyst Kendrick Perkins weighed in on the debate saying it is much closer than people think. As he pointed out in the infographic below, James had better stats during his last three finals losses than Jordan had in his last three finals wins.
What Perkins is essentially pointing out here, is the fact that Jordan had way better teammates than LeBron had in Cleveland. This is certainly true as Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving could never really compare to the likes of Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman.
Regardless of how you may feel about these players, the debate is never going to end. It's something we will deal with until the end of time and if another generational player comes along, we can only imagine what kind of depth they will be adding to this discourse.
Let us know what you think of Perkins' argument, in the comments below.
Kendrick Perkins Upsets Twitter With Top 5 Shooting Guard List
Kendrick Perkins had NBA fans offended with this take.
Kendrick Perkins has been dishing out a heavy dose of hot takes every since he retired from the NBA and fans aren't always happy about it. Perkins can be a polarizing man and it doesn't help that he spends every second of every day defending LeBron James. Regardless, today, Perkins took to Twitter with a top 5 list that is garnering attention for all of the wrong reasons. The list in question counts down his personal top 5 shooting guards of all time.
As you can see from the tweet below, his list has Michael Jordan at 1, Kobe Bryant at 2, Dwyane Wade at 3, and Ray Allen and Tracy McGrady at 4 and 5, respectively.
Perkins' top two was pretty spot on but it was his 3 through 5 that really had fans up in arms. In fact, fans were wondering why guys like Allen Iverson and James Harden weren't included. Some felt that Allen should have been at the three spot and that Wade could have been much lower.
The former NBA big-man was certainly pressed for his opinion although these types of lists typically come down to biased and subjective taste. With this in mind, it's not exactly the best use of your time to start debating a guy who has actually competed at a high level.
Check out some of the reactions to Perkins' list and let us know your own personal top 5 shooting guards, in the comments below.
LeBron James Recites T.I. Bars And Reasserts His Greatness
LeBron James was feeling himself while working out in the gym today.
LeBron James has a Hall Of Fame resume that could be argued as the greatest of all time. Despite this, people love to rain on his parade and harp on his NBA Finals record, which could be a lot worse considering the teams he had to play against. Regardless, LeBron has been working hard to remind people of how good he is, his whole career.
With time off due to the Coronavirus, LeBron has been putting in work at his home gym, and sometimes, he likes to show off what he's up to, on his IG story. Today, he went off for the camera as he flawlessly recited some old T.I. lyrics and grabbed the attention of Kendrick Perkins who has been a huge LeBron defender over the last little while. In fact, the two had a quick exchange on Twitter in which LeBron made sure to let people know that his greatness doesn't need to be repeated.
"Nah it’s ain’t like that Big Perk. I was just on some vintage T.I while I was working out and it had me going. But FR what’s known don’t even need to be said," LeBron wrote. "You keep up the great work you’re doing man! People noticing your gospel on sports."
An argument amongst fans immediately ensued under LeBron's tweet, which is to be expected. After all, people are bored and at home due to the virus so what else is there to do? Thankfully, LeBron is giving fans something to talk about.
Kendrick Perkins Lashes Out Over LeBron & MJ Double Standard
Kendrick Perkins seems to think LeBron James would never get the same praise as Michael Jordan.
Over the weekend, ESPN aired the first two episodes of "The Last Dance" which is the 10-part docuseries on Michael Jordan and the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls who won their sixth championship. The old footage from the documentary is reminding everyone on social media of just how good Jordan was and how no other player can really ever compare. Of course, this has upset all of the LeBron James fans who have been calling him the GOAT ever since his days with the Miami Heat.
One of the men who has consistently been a big supporter of LeBron is none other than Kendrick Perkins, who won a title with James back in 2016. Yesterday, Perkins took to Twitter where he lamented about the double standards surrounding LeBron and MJ and how the former seems to be held to a higher standard.
“The expectations of Bron is like nothing we’ve ever seen in NBA history,” Perkins said. “If Bron scores 63 and 49 in a series and gets swept, every sports network is talking about his inability to get it done, while MJ is getting praised and awarded player of the game in losses.”
Perkins makes a good point although with "The Last Dance" hype at an all-time high, it's going to take a lot to convince MJ fans that LeBron is somehow better. At this point, it's a losing proposition.
