ESPN NBA commentator Kendrick Perkins has had some outlandish takes in his career, but this one may take the cake.
In an appearance on ESPN’s “NBA Countdown” on Sunday to discuss the Boston Celtics’ 114-94 win over the Miami Heat in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series, Perkins declared that the series is already over, and that the Heat have no chance to win.
In fact, he was so confident that the Heat are done for that he even said that the Heat would lose the series even if they didn’t miss a single shot.
“The Miami Heat could go 100 percent from the field and 100 percent from the three, and they’re still gonna get swept in this series,” Perkins said, as Sports Illustrated reported.
“The Miami Heat could go 100% from the field and 100% from the 3 and they’re still gonna get swept in this series.” 😳
– Kendrick Perkins pic.twitter.com/bRAf1EhVM7
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) April 21, 2024
Perkins’ take was immediately torn apart on social media.
“Kendrick Perkins is 100% stupid,” wrote one user on X.
Kendrick Perkins is 100% stupid
— Jaylah (@JaylahBBailey) April 21, 2024
“Math is hard for some people,” wrote another.
Math is hard for some people
— 𝓜𝓪𝓽𝓽 ✈️ (@mldiffley) April 21, 2024
It’s very possible that Perkins, a member of the Celtics 2008 NBA Championship squad, was merely exaggerating, hoping to get a reaction out of his co-hosts or viewers.
If so, it’s safe to say that Perkins got what he was looking for.
“The fact this guy gets pad to talk about basketball should be a crime,” another X user wrote.
Granted, as someone with knowledge about the game of basketball, Perkins hopefully understands that a team will probably win if they don’t miss a shot.
The point he was trying to make was that, even if the Heat are playing the best possible basketball they can, they are still no match for the talented Celtics.
Did you think this was a dumb take?
However, in an attempt to try and be comical, Perkins highlights how sports media has moved away from insight and analysis, and gravitated toward clickbait and controversy.
Perkins is no stranger to controversy himself. Last year, Perkins insinuated that NBA MVP voters were racist because they had voted for white players to win the award, despite those players not leading the league in certain statistical categories.
Kendrick Perkins suggests that Nikola Jokic is winning the MVP this year because he is a white European.
On National Television. This talking point started two weeks ago and is gotten worse and worse ever since.pic.twitter.com/ODNZX9UtQa
— Swipa (@SwipaCam) March 1, 2023
It’s comments like these have made sports media almost insufferable to watch.
In particular, the sports media focus has shifted away from the sports themselves, and instead tends to focus on the personalities that present the shows. Combined with the constant influx of political and “social justice” commentary, and it’s no wonder why no one wants to listen.
These commentators should focus on doing what they are paid to do, namely, to talk about sports, and stop trying to go viral by saying the most outlandish things they can think of.
