Neither Kevin Durant – currently a player with the Phoenix Suns, at least for now – nor Kendrick Perkins – currently an analyst for ESPN – are members of the Oklahoma City Thunder any more. Yet both remain indelibly linked to the franchise with whom they made an NBA Finals appearance back in 2012.
Perkins, a professional agitator and a very proud man, likes to be outspoken about both. Despite the consensus to the contrary, therefore, he could be heard this week trying to position himself as being a difference-maker on the court in that 2012 run.
Perkins combines his TV work at ESPN with hosting a podcast called Road Trippinâ. along with former Cleveland Cavaliers teammates Richard Jefferson and Channing Frye, and Lakers broadcaster Allie Clifton. Never one for understanding his importance, Perkins rejected the idea that he was a “liability”, and cited the way he “shut down” everyone from Dirk Nowitzki and Pau Gasol to Tim Duncan and Tony Parker.
Durant’s Four-Word Callback
Durant was not having any of it.
When collecting the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award two seasons last, Durant famously shouted out his long-time teammates, Russell Westbrook, calling him “the real MVP” for how much he did to help Durant’s game.
The same could not be said for Kendrick Perkins. Unless, of course, one was to be sarcastic. Nevertheless, in a post to the social media platform X, Durant called Perkins “the actual real mvp”, making an unsubtle call-back to himself in an obvious case of shade.
Durant’s post quickly gained over 110,000 likes, as people acknowledged the potshot, and generally agreed that Perkins was the one being carried during the 2012 run. As always, upon further scrutiny, the truth lies somewhere in the middle.
Perkins was not a liability for the Thunder during the playoff run, and certainly not as much as fan opinion now says he was. That said, nor was he locking people down. Nowitzki, for example, averaged 26.8 points per game in their series, which are not the actions of a suppressed player.
Perkins Had A Right to Defend Himself
In his favoured areas of the court, Perkins was a good defensive player throughout his career, and was acquired by (and started by) the Thunder accordingly. By the time of the 2013-14 run, he was a mere 3.9 point/4.4 rebound per game regular season player, yet his size and positional sense made him a useful team defender.
The fact that Perkins only really played on one end of the court, though, is relevant here. Because while he may have only factored on one end, everyone else played both.
In the Finals against the Miami Heat – which the Thunder lost by four games to one – the Thunder actually outscored the Heat with Perkins on the bench. Perkins averaged 4.8 points and 6.6 rebounds per game in that series, but having started him all season, the Heat benched their usual starting centre Joel Anthony (who received only two minutes all series), instead opting to use the far more mobile Chris Bosh and Shane Battier alongside LeBron James in the frontcourt instead. Those two names were conspicuously absent from Perkins’ list of conquests.
Perkins was a decent player, who succeeded in certain roles and certain match-ups, but when those match-ups were unfavourable – as they were in the all-important Finals series – the team was better matching up without him.
It is true, on pure point of fact, that the Thunder never made the NBA Finals until Kendrick Perkins got there. But nor did they get there without Lazar Hayward.
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