Kevin Durant: Nets Star Calls Out Kendrick Perkins for Kyrie Irving Criticism
Former NBA player Kendrick Perkins continues to stir up drama with the Nets, but Kevin Durant wasn’t having it.
There’s no love lost between former teammates Kevin Durant and Kendrick Perkins. Following his retirement, Perkins has joined the media and hasn’t hesitated to call out any NBA player whose actions/words he doesn’t agree with, but he made a mistake getting involved in the Brooklyn Nets’ business.
Kyrie Irving’s alleged comments and behavior have made headlines, and Perkins has been his biggest critic. He’s been issuing stern responses both on television and social media, but Durant had enough this week.
Not only did KD retweet a video of Perkins airballing a shot during their time on the OKC Thunder together, but the Nets star called Perk a “sellout” via a comment on Instagram. Perkins responded to this and teared up while on ESPN’s First Take.
Durant clearly doesn’t care about the bond these guys shared in the past. Despite thanking him in his MVP speech back in 2014, KD blasted Perkins publicly on social media for what he said about his teammate and clearly isn’t going to allow his comments to affect the team’s chemistry.
Perkins can reminisce all he wants, but he can’t expect to get into Durant’s business with his current teammates and escape unscathed.
https://twitter.com/TheNBAHustle/status/1273393843581227010?s=20
Other NBA players haven’t been pleased with Perkins speaking out on this, especially since Nets players have come out and said some of Irving’s comments are untrue. What’s even worse? Skip Bayless is now taking aim at Perkins, so the man is getting hit from all angles.
https://twitter.com/undisputed/status/1273990838175948801?s=20
Whatever the case, the fact that Perkins seemingly didn’t expect to get dragged after all this is surprising when you factor in how Durant responds to criticism, whether it’s directed at him or those close to him. With all the power and platforms NBA players have nowadays, he should know better.