Ever since former NBA player Kendrick Perkins started working at ESPN, his name as a media personality has grown. Through his hard work, he has become a consistent contributor on multiple platforms within the Disney conglomerate. Perkins has been critical of players, coaches, and executives throughout his time as an analyst.
His former teammate, Kevin Durant, has often been at the center of Perkins’ most controversial takes. Durant is someone who doesn’t let anything slide—especially not from a player of Perkins’ caliber. Perkins is an NBA champion and was one of the best high school players to come out of Texas, entering the NBA Draft straight out of high school.
But as Durant recently told Hall of Famer Gary Payton during some friendly trash talk last week, there are levels to this. Durant is arguably the best scorer the NBA has ever seen—a top ten, possibly top five player of all time. He is just a game or two away from joining an elite list of seven NBA legends who have scored 30,000 career points.
Perkins recently appeared on NBA Today, where he insinuated that he was the leader of the Oklahoma City Thunder team that included Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. The three were teammates for five years, making one NBA Finals appearance together.
Perkins was a defensive anchor, tasked with rebounding and protecting the paint. A defensive leader, maybe… but even Durant couldn’t ignore the claim. Quoting a tweet referencing Perkins as the true leader of the Thunder, Durant made it clear he wasn’t buying it.
Kendrick Perkins says he was the real leader of the Thunder
“It doesn’t mean your best player is your leader. When I was with the Thunder, it wasn’t KD, it wasn’t Russ, it wasn’t James, I was the one leading.”
(Via ESPN / h/t @NBAStreamIG ) pic.twitter.com/y69hQYuPZP
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) February 6, 2025
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