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Kendrick Perkins: Mine was the trade that didn’t happen—late in my career. I’m playing for the Pelicans, and it probably cost me a championship, to be honest. Either way, it did. I was backing up Alexis [Ajinça], veteran presence in the locker room. This is when I developed relationships with Anthony Davis, Jrue Holiday, etc. We weren’t winning s*** at the time. Dell Demps—by the way, I don’t have a lot of people I hate. I despise him. I wish the worst for him in a basketball sense. I’m not afraid to say it. I’d tell him to his face. I can’t stand that m**********. He’s a liar. He’s lied to so many people. He’s a snake. I hate him.
Kendrick Perkins: At the trade deadline, I get a text from Bron: “Hey, we about to come get you.” Matter of fact, I’m lying. Bron came to New Orleans. He tells me, “We’re about to come get you. We want you on the team, on the bench.” I’m like, “Cool.” Then KD texts me: “Hey Perk, we want you in OKC.” Both teams trying to trade for me. Cleveland offered a second-round pick. This is the year they won the title. Also the year OKC blew the 3–1 lead to Golden State. Dell Demps comes to me and says, “We’re not trading you, Perk. We want you here for our locker room. You’re going to retire a Pelican.” I said, “Okay. So you’re telling me…” He says, “Yeah. We want you here the next two years. Retire here. We’ve got a plan.” I’m like, “Oh, s***.” Two more years. Cool. At that point, I didn’t know where my career was going. Once you’re on vet minimum, you get stuck on vet minimum. So he turns down both teams. End of the season, he says, “I’mma knock these moves out and we’ll get you straight.”
Kendrick Perkins: Then the Rockets reach out. Daryl Morey calls me: “Hey Perk, James [Harden] wants you on the bench. We got a vet minimum for you in Houston, your hometown.” I turned it down because I’d already given my word to Dell. Thought it was the right thing to do. Then they sign Nene. As soon as I turned it down, next thing I know—they sign Nene. Summer goes on. I’m watching other guys sign deals. I don’t hear from Dell Demps. I contact him in August: “Hey D, what we doing?” He calls me and says, “Yeah, after rethinking some things, we think it’s best to let the young guys roll and not bring you back.” I’m like, “What the f***?” I cussed his ass out on the phone. Hung up. Truth is—I had no more options. That year, I was out of the league. No job. You possibly cost me a championship. I turned down actual offers. The Rockets contacted me the first week of free agency: “We got a vet minimum for you. Stay in Houston.” Next year? Nothing. No job.
Kendrick Perkins: I’m not blaming Dell Demps for the direction of my entire NBA career. But he played a huge f***ing part. He took one or two years off my career. I could’ve been on a bench clapping 1,500 times a season. Instead, he shortened my career—by being a snake and lying. I’ve told this story before. I’ll tell it again. I can’t stand him. He knows it. I saw him in Minnesota—he works in the front office there—and he couldn’t even look me in the eye.
Blake Griffin: 'Kendrick Perkins deleted his Twitter after I dunked on him. I think that should be on my résumé'
Do you ever feel bad after a poster? Blake Griffin: No. Host: You never felt bad one time? Blake Griffin: Never. Host: What if a guy’s wife was there? Blake Griffin: She shouldn’t have been there. Host: What if his mom just died or something? Blake Griffin: Well, that’s sad. Yeah. But I don’t feel bad for the dunk. I feel bad that he just lost the matriarch of his family. Host: What if he cried, hypothetically? Has someone ever cried? Blake Griffin: I don’t know, but Kendrick Perkins deleted his Twitter after I dunked on him. That’s like— I think that should be on my résumé.
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Kendrick Perkins: The Philadelphia 76ers are nowhere in hell. I believe Joel Embiid is going to come back on a revenge tour. I believe so. This is going to be a revenge season for Joel Embiid. I believe he's going to come back on a mission. Well, he should. He should because him and Paul George are probably, in my opinion, not probably, they are. When it comes to pressure, they're the top two for as most pressure in the NBA to get something done. Nobody wants to hear nothing else. You got to get it done. You got to get that sh*t done. Period. No other way around it. Conference Finals minimum with that big three with Tyrese Maxey, Paul George, and Joel Embiid.
Kendrick Perkins: Do I think Memphis overpaid for Jaren Jackson Jr.? Absolutely they did. But we here now. We here now. Next they going to have to pay Ja Morant, right? So if Jaren Jackson Jr. got 240, Ja probably going to get close to 300. Okay. So you pay for those two. Can those two take you to a championship? Absolutely not. Absolutely not. And I believe Ja is one of one. I'm just not a believer in Jaren Jackson Jr. But he could prove me wrong. He could prove me wrong.
Wyc Grousbeck: I regret trading Kendrick Perkins
Now, is there any move that you regret not doing?" Wyc Grousbeck "Oh, I’m sure. Well, I do regret trading Perk, to be honest. That was one we all thought about, and there were discussions around the table. And I’ve got to sign off on the trades as the governor, lead owner. And I feel like I got kind of talked into it—but I did sign off. It’s not... you know, we’re all in it. And Jeff Green came back, and then he had a health problem. And—nothing against Jeff Green—he just won a championship, you know. But anyway, our team didn’t feel the same after Perk was gone. So, not everything goes perfect. Not that everything can go perfect—this year, you know, JT lost his Achilles. So yeah... You go for the highs, and you get through the lows, and you have a brotherhood that lasts for life."
Wyc Grousbeck on why Kendrick Perkins wasn't invited to Celtics parade: Some players' family members told us they wouldn't attend if he was there
"That’s interesting that you say that, because a lot of people see Kendrick Perkins on TV and have different opinions about him. But if he’s not hurt in 2010—y’all win that chip." Wyc Grousbeck: "We probably did. And I love Perk to this day. *He wasn’t invited to our parade last year—that is true—because he had been giving people a lot of s**. And so I had family members of players saying, ‘If that guy’s in the parade, we’re not in the parade.’ I said, ‘Well, that’s... you know... okay, you win.’"
Kendrick Perkins: Appreciate the love Presti and love for life @okcthunder
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Brandon Rahbar: Sam Presti on Kendrick Perkins: "Perk really is a unique figure in our history. He changed a lot of things when he got here. I think he won like 75% of the games he played here. Which is an astounding stat. He did have some pretty good teammates. He helped us go from a fun team to a contending team."
Kendrick Perkins: Ace Bailey reportedly isn’t happy about being drafted by the Utah Jazz. The Jazz—under a new owner, Danny Ainge—young, full of energy. He’s not happy about it? Why not? Isn’t that your dream, bro? You wanted to fall to a team where you could showcase that you're a franchise player—wasn't that the case? Utah has one of the best fan bases in the entire league. So what’s the problem? I’ll tell you what the problem is: we have these vultures out here. Vultures preying on these kids. They find them in eighth or ninth grade, take them under their wing, give them money, pay their parents’ bills, buy them their first cars, put jewelry on them, clothes on their backs—and the families don’t realize there’s a hidden agenda. These folks had motives all along. I don’t know the man who’s managing Ace—not the agent, because he’s not qualified. I don’t know him, so I won’t speak on his name. But I will speak on the situation: he’s handled this all wrong. Completely wrong.
Kendrick Perkins: But yeah, I just had to come on here and address Bill Simmons. Bro—just chill. I get that you’re bitter. But that relationship with you and ESPN? That [__] happened ten years ago, bro. It’s like an ex that just won’t give up—you keep riding by the house every day, and then you send a message saying: ‘Hey, your yard’s not cut.’ Sheesh. That’s not your business anymore. You developed your own platform—The Ringer. You sold it. Good move, man. You did some great things. So move the [__] on. But most importantly—leave me the [__] alone. I don’t bother nobody. I don’t bother you. And I strongly believe—yeah, you’re qualified. I like what you got going on over there. I love Zach Lowe. He’s a good friend of mine. He can speak his opinion. Y’all can voice your opinions. But what y’all not going to do—is gatekeep. It’s gatekeeping. We ain’t doing that.
Kendrick Perkins to Bill Simmons: 'Who the f*ck gave you the keys and said you was the gatekeeper for the game of basketball?'
In the longer, updated retort, Perkins argued Simmons gave his thoughts on the draft coverage because he was simply “bitter” over his departure from ESPN in 2015. “My problem with you is who the f*ck gave you the keys and said you was the gatekeeper for the game of basketball?” Perkins said, addressing Simmons directly. “Just because people don’t speak the way that you don’t want them to speak, doesn’t make it wrong. Just because ESPN don’t cover it the way you would like them to cover the game of basketball or the tweets you would like them to make, don’t make it f*cking wrong. And it’s crazy because, Bill, y’all separated a decade ago. I’m talking about you and ESPN. And you’re coming off bitter, my guy.”
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