Carry on. This has been a catchphrase that former NBA champion turned ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins has made his own over the past few years. Well, this is probably what the league should do in terms of Perkins' NBA awards voting rights after his ballots for the 2021-22 year-end awards were revealed. At this point, the league should probably seriously consider stripping Big Perk of his right to vote following his highly questionable choices for this past season.
Apparently, Perkins had some rather shocking decisions when the outspoken analyst cast his ballots for this season's year-end awards (h/t Hilltop Hoops on Twitter):
Kendrick Perkins had some interesting votes on his ballot.
• Booker > Giannis for MVP
• 2 Pelicans (Alvarado/Murphy) and Reaves All-Rookie but no Herb Jones.
• KD, Pat Bev, Caruso All-Defense (left off Holiday, FVV, Draymond, Gobert)
• Jaylen Brown All-NBA (No Siakam/Butler) pic.twitter.com/RXG8jvSjfa— Hilltop Hoops (@HilltopNBA) May 25, 2022
Where to begin? There's just so much to digest with how Kendrick Perkins decided to vote here.
I guess I'll start with the most contentious vote that caught my eye. This comes in the form of Big Perk deciding to exclude Jrue Holiday, one of the best defensive guards in the league for the past few years, off of his All-Defense list. Perkins also snubbed two former Defensive Player of the Year winners in Rudy Gobert and Draymond Green. Patrick Beverley is an excellent defender in his own right, and you could argue that Kevin Durant's defense is underrated. However, to put Alex Caruso, who himself played just 41 games this season, over Holiday, Gobert, AND Green has got to be the biggest travesty in all this.
I can forgive Perk for his decision to vote Jaylen Brown over Jimmy Butler and Pascal Siakam on the All-NBA team. Somewhat. To some extent, the same can be said about Devin Booker's MVP credentials over Giannis Antetokounmpo. After all, the Phoenix Suns led the league throughout the regular season despite how Chris Paul was sidelined for a considerable period.
On the other hand, I cannot be as lenient when it comes to Perk's All-Rookie ballot. Jose Alvarado, Trey Murphy, and Austin Reaves all had respectable debut seasons for their respective teams. I personally would not put any of them ahead of Herb Jones, though. Clearly, Kendrick Perkins has other thoughts about this.
Would you say that Perkins' ballots are contentious, to say the least? Admittedly, stripping him of his voting rights would be a bit of an overreaction, but something has to be done here, right?
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