The relationship between Kendrick Perkins and the Celtics has taken some bizarre turns since he was traded away from the team. He came back as an analyst for a while, but as his media persona grew, he drifted from the team, making disparaging comments about Joe Mazzulla and others, to the point where he wasn’t even welcomed at the 2024 championship parade.
At this point, Celtics fans don’t claim him as their own, and frankly, most fans want nothing to do with him or his outlandish ESPN takes. Whatever he’s doing has obviously worked for his career, as he’s plastered all over the four-letter network, but his actual NBA knowledge is questionable at best.
It’s hard to tell if he’s simply going for hot takes and trying to stir up conversations, or if he’s actually speaking with conviction and sharing his beliefs, but he certainly seems to stay relevant by spewing one absurd narrative after another.
And his latest one is yet another shot at the Celtics that shows just how little he understands the team, the state of the league, and the way things work in the modern game. For whatever reason, he has dug in his heels as a Mazzulla-hater, refusing to see the plain truth that Joe’s system is a recipe for wins, especially in the regular season.
Perkins thinks Celtics will be a play-in team
On Friday’s episode of First Take, the panelists were offering their NBA bold takes, and Perkins’ was that the Celtics will be a play-in team this season. He essentially seems to think that the team has health concerns, will miss Jaylen Brown a lot, and that the East is a lot better.
What he’s missing is that the Celtics may be the deepest team in the NBA, and they have a system in place that maximizes winning on the margins and allows them to plug in whatever players are available without missing a beat, at least in the regular season.
If he wasn’t convinced of this last season, he probably never will be. And honestly, I think part of him just wants to see the Celtics and Mazzulla fail. It’s hard to imagine he has done real analysis on the situation and come up with this conclusion. More likely, he just wants to stir the pot like usual and draw the ire of Celtics fans.
So, I guess, in a way, by me even pointing out his nonsense in this article, I’m feeding into his ego and what he wants. Perhaps I should show more restraint, but I’m sorry; I have to call out the blind hate when I see it. Hopefully, someday Big Perk will see the light. He was a beloved figure when he wore the green and white back in the day. But clearly, that day is not going to come any time soon.
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