JJ Redick ridiculously claimed that the referees have been favoring the Golden State Warriors over the Sacramento Kings in the first round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs. His ESPN coworker Kendrick Perkins vehemently disagreed with him.

“If they're [the Warriors] going to come back in this series, they've [the referees] gotta call the game the way the game is supposed to be called.”

Redick went on a tirade accusing the referees for blatantly ignoring penalties committed against the Warriors, while calling the same infractions in favor of the Kings. He was blunt in his criticism, although not as blunt as Perkins was in his retort.

Expect to see Kendrick Perkins make another response when he inevitably gets prompted to comment on one of his many TV appearances. Perkins is joined by many across social media in believing Redick is slightly off-base here.

The referees have had nothing to do with the fact the Sacramento Kings have looked like a better team. The Kings were a better team in the regular season and the Warriors were abysmal on the road, so the results through two games are not out of the ordinary by any measure.

It is a very interesting take coming from a former player who goes on to claim he likes the referees. Making a statement like this has much deeper underlying implications that Redick might be weary of being cautious of.

Given Kendrick Perkins response to JJ Redick, this will not be the end of discourse surrounding the refereeing in the Kings-Warriors series. It will be interesting to see if the headlines are about basketball play after Game 3.