ESPN's Stephen A. Smith took umbrage to Kendrick Perkins' Twitter war with former teammate Kevin Durant, one that quickly escalated after he went a little out of bounds during Russell Westbrook's return to Oklahoma City on Thursday.
Perkins, who played for the Thunder for four seasons, declared Westbrook the best player in franchise history, but it didn't take long until an actual journalist called him out on his poor take, noting Durant was by far the better player.
Durant soon chimed in after his name was mentioned, quickly taking jabs at Perkins, who didn't contribute much during his tenure with the team. Perkins responded by saying Durant made âthe weakest moveâ by choosing to join the Golden State Warriors the season after the Thunder were eliminated by them in the Western Conference Finals, doubling up by saying he took âthe coward way out.â
So this has been happening tonightâŠhave the feeling Chauncey Billups & I are gonna have a lot to ask Perk about on #TheJump tomorrow. đș: 3p ET/12p PT on ESPN pic.twitter.com/b8gLCinivL
â Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) January 10, 2020
On Friday morning, Smith took issue with Perkins' comments, noting he is now a part of the media and shouldn't be making use of his new career to settle his feuds.
âMy only issue with Perk is that I'm sitting there like yo man, to go as far as you say about âthe weakest move,â it's coming from me â I'm the media,â said Smith. âI understand that you are in it, but you have to understand that you are a former teammate of his. You cannot allow yourself to be viewed as someone who would turn against a brother you once sweated and bled with in pursuit of a championship⊠There is a difference. In the case of Kevin Durant, at some point and time, bro. There is a phone. You pick up the phone and have a direct man-to-man conversation.â
Perkins has yet to understand what he's crossed over in his new profession. While at first, he chose to be civil while insinuating that he had an issue with the way Kevin Durant handled things, he's now taken the mask fully off, berating his former teammate for his decision and completely forgetting he's no longer a player, but a member of the media with a clear bias.
Perkins likely had this outburst pre-loaded, even before Westbrook's homecoming night at Chesapeake Arena, but this is one chance he wouldn't pass up when Durant confronted him with facts. The 6-foot-11 center averaged 5.4 points and 5.8 rebounds during his 14-year career in the league, and he has zero ground to question one of the best players in the NBA, especially when he was playing for a different team when he left the franchise.
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