Retired NBA player Kendrick Perkins was a no-nonsense enforcer back in his playing days, but he got jokes now that he has transitioned to an analyst role for ESPN.

The 38-year-old one-time NBA champion was at the broadcast booth alongside fellow former Boston Celtics forward Brian Scalabrine during the C's visit of the Dallas Mavericks at the American Airlines Center on Wednesday. Scal was joking about how good Perk was behind close doors, where the 6-foot-10 center was supposedly hitting threes during practice.

Perkins, of course, took the compliments in stride and even quipped that head coach Doc Rivers held him back during his time in Beantown.

“I keep trying tell people, Doc hurt my career, I was supposed to be an All-Star but he made me into a role player at the age of 24,” Kendrick Perkins said in jest.

Perk was certainly limited offensively but he more than made up for it with his leadership and tenacity at the other end of the floor. After getting drafted by the Memphis Grizzlies 27th overall in the 2003 NBA draft, Perkins was shipped to Boston and worked his tail off to carve his place in the team's rotation during his eight-year stay with the team.

Known best as Boston's defensive anchor during their championship run in 2008, Perkins epitomized the team's “embutu” mantra and was the perfect glue guy playing alongside the team's Big 4 in Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo.

Perkins had career averages of 5.8 points and 5.5 rebounds during his 14-year career, playing in 782 regular season games and 143 playoff matches.