Former NBA center Kendrick Perkins played for four different organizations throughout the course of his career, but there is no need to guess where his loyalties truly lie.
Perkins got his start with the Boston Celtics, where he was the starting center for the 2008 NBA championship team. He has routinely spoken reverently about his time in Boston, and also joins the likes of Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce whenever that 2008 crew gets together.
So it probably comes as no surprise that Perkins lashed out at Brooklyn Nets point guard Kyrie Irving for “planning” an injury around Brooklyn's trip to Boston on Wednesday:
Kyrie looked at the schedule before the season started and planned this whole injury thing because he didn’t want to go back to Boston this upcoming week!!! He didn’t want that smoke in the Bean Town. Smh
— Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) November 23, 2019
Irving, of course, left the Celtics in free agency after a pair of tension-filled seasons where he frequently exhibited standoffish behavior and struggled to get on the same page with Boston's young players. Kyrie also flopped during the team's second-round playoff loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.
However, it is probably unfair for Perk to make such a drastic assumption. Irving has reportedly been dealing with a shoulder impingement all year and some experts have indicated that the All-Star might even need surgery if the injury is not resolved soon (via Kristian Winfield of the New York Daily News):
In Irving’s case — and other younger patients’ cases — the shoulder impingement could have been the result of an injury to the rotator cuff, as well as the instability of his shoulder joints, according to Kelly’s hypothesis.
“Both conditions force the rotator cuff to work overtime in order to keep the shoulder stable,” he told the News. “There is a high likelihood that Mr. Irving has a labral tear or loosening of the shoulder capsule due to repetitive stress.”
Of course, Perkins likely still has a sour taste in his mouth from how things went down between Irving and the Celtics last season. But Kyrie is certainly laboring.
Follow Us
Subscribe