Wednesday, February 8th, 2012 at 9:00 am  |  105 responses

Kendrick Perkins Criticizes LeBron for Reaction to Blake Griffin Dunk


by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni

When Blake Griffin viciously dunked over Kendrick Perkins last week, it seemed that every NBA player with a Twitter account giddily posted their reaction to the amazing play. Kendrick Perkins, to his credit, took it all in stride.

Well, almost all of it.

LeBron James was just as excited about the Griffin dunk as anyone, which Perkins took offense to. Kendrick ripped LeBron in an interview with Yahoo! Sports last night:

Perkins respected Griffin for not making a spectacle of the dunk afterward or gloating about it. But he wasn’t too appreciative of LeBron James tweeting praise to Griffin. Several NBA players commented about the dunk on Twitter and in media interviews, but the only one that bothered Perkins was James. Shortly after the dunk, James tweeted, “Dunk of the Year! @blakegriffin just dunked on Kendrick Perkins so hard!!! Wow! I guess I’m No. 2 now. Move over #6.” James was referring to his alley-oop dunk he threw down after jumping over Chicago Bulls guard John Lucas III a day earlier.

“You don’t see Kobe [Bryant] tweeting,” Perkins said. “You don’t see Michael Jordan tweeting. If you’re an elite player, plays like that don’t excite you. At the end of the day, the guys who are playing for the right reasons who are trying to win championships are not worrying about one play. They also are not tweeting about themselves talking about going down to No. 2. I just feel [James] is always looking for attention and he wants the world to like him.”

Kendrick Perkins added that as a defender, he will never hesitate when he sees someone like Blake Griffin charging towards him. It’s his job to protect the rim, and if that means getting dunked on and humiliated from time to time, then so be it.

Should the OKC Thunder and Miami Heat meet in this year’s NBA Finals, a tantalizing possibility in and of itself, this Kendrick Perkins/LeBron James beef would make for a fascinating subplot.

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  • http://www.reverbnation.com/tray24 T-Ray

    Cosign robb

  • bike

    Here is an idea for the dunk contest. Blake goes against Perkins for the dunk but Perkins can do whatever he wants to stop him without penalty. He is allowed whatever props he wants, like a pic axe or chain saw.

  • http://www.twitter.com_dfrance dfrance21

    Perk just wanted to pile on Lebron like everyone else. I don’t get people that get so up in arms about twitter. And just because you’re an NBA player it doesn’t mean that great plays don’t excite you. And for what it’s worth, Blakes slow stroll and crowd glare are how he gloats after a dunk!

  • http://slamonline.com. datkid

    man up perk… jeez.

  • http://cnbc.com JTaylor21

    KD must not be an elite player and obviously doesn’t care about winning a chip because dude stay on twitter.

  • burnt_chicken

    what a surprise! Eboy is referencing men’s a$$es…again…

  • Red

    Wade better watch out or Gibson’ll do a monster dunk on him again. I swear to everything I dislike Perkins but I just started to like the guy. I’m happy he called him out. Kevin Durant doesn’t go on twitter talking smack & being a douche though.

  • Kabila Kabanze

    Perkins Mr Cry baby…Blake had a lay up on you wait till Bron dunks on you

  • dev0

    Players are fans too.
    I kind of wish LeBron would have said his own dunk was better.

  • Eric

    Everybody and their Mama tweeted about that dunk, but Perk is crying about Lebron? Perk is just embarresed and butt hurt. Lebron doesn’t have to TRY to get attention, he’s had that on lock since he was in high-school. Perk going after a week or so later Lebron shows that Perkins is the one that is thirsty.

  • http://www.slamonline.com megatron

    I laughed at this article when I first read it before I went to work. Now I come back and am in complete shock over the amount of people that are apparently taking perkins side. The lebron hate is just too much..

  • boss

    Perkins needs to man up no one told him to stand there he could of moved instead he takes it out on lebron lebron is allowed to make comments every other player did but he targets lebron? clearly perkins has issues and i hope lebron dunks on him

  • http://slamonline.com tealish

    LeBron isn’t a gamer like Jordan or Kobe — but this twitter/lack of twitter of thing has nothing to do with it. The guy likes to have fun off the court, no big deal. Maybe Jordan didn’t tweet because Twitter didn’t exist and Kobe didn’t grow up with it. Maybe?

  • http://slamonline.com tealish

    LeBron isn’t a gamer like Jordan or Kobe — but this twitter/lack of twitter of thing has nothing to do with it. The guy likes to have fun off the court, no big deal. Maybe Jordan didn’t tweet because Twitter didn’t exist and Kobe didn’t grow up with it. Maybe?

  • HeavenCent

    i still think wade’s dunk on AV is way better ….

  • http://www.fullc0urtpress.com KHoliday

    So if Perk would’ve punched Blake’s dunk and Lebron tweeted that it was the best block ever, would KP be mad? DONT THINK SO!!! KP also forgot to say something to the 25 million other people on Twitter that tweeted about it. Lebron was NOT the only one!

  • http://slamonline.com LakeShow

    Ooooh Jerk.

  • Red

    Twitter is fine Lebron is just a natural born jerk.

  • BP

    This is going to sound a little old man ish but I think it’s an important point….

    Blake exhibited sportsmanship in not posing and preening for the camera after the dunk. Perk, rightfully so, respects Blake for not showing him up.

    The comment about Lebron may be out of anger and not phrased in the best way, but stars lead by example and Lebron time and time again shows the example of someone who is focused on highlight plays, and camera-focused plays. This approach has manifested or snowballed into a situation where all young ballers want to make highlights and the attention to the parts of the game not involving dunking has really suffered.

    Sportsmanship is something in massive decline, in my opinion. I don’t think most people recognize it but acting like a lunatic after you dunk on someone is poor sportsmanship…there’s a line which too many people cross now in celebrating single plays.

  • ClydeSays

    I love Perk but let’s move on. Calling out LBJ for being immature, I mean, you could turn that into a full time job.

  • T-Money

    i think i figured out what game perk is running. he only talks back to people that don’t have rings because even though he is not that good, he still has that over them. dirk tweeted that he couldn’t keep watching the dunk but perk let that slide. kobe said in an interview that the dunk was amazing but perk let that slide. now lebron tweets? bingo! i’m pretty sure he would have said nothing if it was wade.

  • PaulT

    LeBron’s not wrong in saying he’s number 2, which is where he’ll stay until he gets a chip.

  • http://slamonline.com Fut.

    I swear only LeBron could get hate for complimenting another player and called selfish for doing so.

  • Anon

    PaulT He was talking about the number 2 dunk for the year at the moment. Either way Lebron still will still have scored more championships than YOU

  • alekesam

    On the one hand, Perk is right in that ‘Bron is an attention whore. On the other hand, Perk should shut it because the routine is getting old. He only talks smack to folks who won’t push back (Gasol, etc).

  • http://www.adultism.com justlenny

    Perkins = pathetic

  • charliewinning

    Lebron being an attention whore is irrelevent to this situation. He wasn’t the only one to comment on the dunk, not the only player who did it on Twitter, and Perkins is a sensitive prepubescent girl.

  • Brahsef

    @BP Sportsmanship is better now than ever before. You’ll never seen a Shawn Kemp style celebration ever again. God, how I wish we would.

    The NBA is the trash talkin league. Man up people

  • http://Slamonline.com Gab

    Oh shut up Perkins u still sick …lmao

  • http://www.facebook.com/joe.l.brewer3 BlackPhantom

    Kendrick’s still bitter as hell.

  • TBEASTIN

    He still sour after something that happened a week ago!!! DAMN SON! i’m sure his weed carrier homies was clowning him all week, and bring up Bron’s tweet just to rub it in, and now this happened. lol #whooosaaaaa

  • TBEASTIN

    He still sour after something that happened a week ago!!! DAMN SON! i’m sure his weed carrier homies was clowning him all week, and bring up Bron’s tweet just to rub it in, and now this happened. lol #whooosaaaaa

  • http://slamonline.com The Philosopher

    HA!
    LONG… LIVE… THE KING!!

  • Brion

    People are actually dogging Lebron for being a fan of a good dunk when he sees one? unreal.

  • golakeshow

    who cares about what kendrick perkins thinks. He sucks. Lebron is the second best player in the NBA. PS lebron’s dunk was better. griffin’s was a layup.

  • Jerome

    I wish the NBA would stop modelling the WWE … play ball and stop all the soapboxin’, please.

  • http://www.thesmashbrothas.com zen garden

    thats bad dunk karma to cry about it..dude gonna get yacked on all year long

  • LA Huey

    Jerome’s right. WWE sucks. WWF was where it’s at. Machoman Randy Savage (RIP), Ted DiBiase, Ultimate Warrior, Undertaker, Hacksaw Jim Duggan…

  • 23

    So perkins goes out of his way to read lebrons tweets, and he sees one about himself so he decides to say lebron shouldn’t tweet? Would perkins care about lebrons twitter accound if blake didn’t destroy his pride?

  • guahan

    angry genie looking @ss

  • http://slamonline.com The Black Rick Kamla

    Perk just kept it realer than necessary….he’s 100% right

  • http://www.kb24.com The Seed

    Truth Hurts, Lebron is just a fun guy to be around, he needs to start having a winner attitude and care less about dumb stuff. Your Welcome!!

  • MurkyWat3rz

    “If you’re an elite player, plays like that don’t excite you”

    Perkins has no idea what excites an elite player because he’s never been one. As such he shouldn’t be commenting on anything that an elite player should or shouldn’t be doing and what or what doesn’t excite them. Besides that, any fan of the sport (whether they’re on or off the court)would most definitely be excited about a play like that. Players can be fans of the sport as well, and I’m sure that even though neither of them tweeted about it, Jordan and Bryant were probably “excited” by Griffins dunk if they seen it.

  • http://www.leaguelineup.com/welcome.asp?url=pawtucketymca Gametimeweezy

    Perkins my sentiments exactly… straight telling LeBron “I got a ring… i got a ring…”

  • http://tempdog1 Tempest

    ‘If you’re an elite player, plays like that don’t excite you.’ It doesn’t matter how good a player you are that dunk was jaw dropping. Perkins is just bitter

  • http://slamonline.com The Philosopher

    Hey, Huey…
    Don’t forget about “Outlaw” Ron Bass.

  • http://slamonline.com Eldon Khorshidi

    hay

  • trueballer

    TRUE WORDS AN IM A LEBRON FAN!

  • JP7

    I’m a huge Thunder fan, from Seattle days. Perk bin needin to shut his mouth and get back to grindin. All that media talkin ain’t a center’s place, stead that he should needa be workin on his post game, stop gettin pump faked out his socks, get over his Celtic days and shave off that silver dollar size chin hair, priorities man.

  • Drunyce

    At the end of the day. The TRUTH HURTS & if what he’s saying wasn’t true. LeBrick wouldn’t have responded, period. Perk clearly struck a nerve. How anyone can defend a moron who says… “You could be watching cartoons with your kids and you don’t like it, you say, ‘Blame it on LeBron.’ If you go to the grocery store and they don’t have the milk that you like, you just say, ‘It’s LeBron’s fault.”.. is baffling. This guy is so out of touch with reality it’s sad. Also, the Thunder didn’t start playing good D until the Perkins trade, FACT. So talking about Perk like he’s a scrub is moronic. We all saw what happen to the C’s after he left.

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