https://twitter.com/TheNBACentral/status/1274010586528067584
https://twitter.com/gifdsports/status/1274018514693734401
A silly feud has turned personal.
It started with Kendrick Perkins’ criticism (shocker) of Kyrie Irving pushing back (shocker) on the league’s agreed upon restart in Orlando come July 31. Never mind that Irving won’t be participating as he recovers from injury, he reportedly believes a return to basketball would distract from the protests and social change that have spread across the country in the wake of George Floyd’s murder.
According to reports, some players agree with Irving, but most do not. Some even believe that playing would forward the cause, due to the size of the platform NBA players would have as the only major American sport going on.
Whether Perkins feels that way as well is unclear, but it is clear that he’s annoyed with Irving for being a distraction.
“No one is listening to Kyrie,” Perkins said on CBS Sports Radio Tuesday. “The NBA is going to continue. All he’s doing is causing unnecessary drama between the NBA brothers that we don’t need right now. Him lashing out is just making news and making a whole bunch of noise for nothing because the NBA season is going to happen.”
Durant happens to be one of the players in Kyrie’s camp, and he responded to Perkins’ comments on Instagram (shocker) with two words, “sell out.”
Perkins didn’t take kindly to that, and responded emotionally on ESPN Friday morning.
https://twitter.com/gifdsports/status/1274018514693734401
“I was one of the first ones to call out the NBA owners for not speaking out and taking action on what’s going on in America,” Perkins said. “Followed up by a phone conversation an hour and half long with Danny Ainge, so don’t tell me nothing about being a sell out, cause that ain’t even for me and you brother.
“Let me remind you something: The same sellout that’s sitting right here, I remember this day like it was yesterday. May 8, 2011, Mother’s Day. You and I, Memphis, TN, going through personal problems, and guess what? You came to my room, we vented, we cried together, we cried some more, vented some more, we didn’t leave that room until we confided in each other. We were glad we had each other to lean on.
“So for KD to call your brother a sell out man, c’mon dog. You know what my love is for you. You know what my love is and where my heart is for you. By the way, my wife, Vanity Perkins, your sister, who you used to call, and she used to make them plate of oxtails, that good macaroni and cheese and cornbread, she’s still got love for you today. You remember coming to my house? My oldest two sons and you used to walk through the door and they’d say ‘Hey uncle KD’ and you used to play fight with em? They still got love for you today.
By the way, this same sellout, this brother right here on this ESPN platform talking to you today, I still love you to this day my brother. And I’m going to leave it at that.”
