Kendrick Perkins
Kyle Terada-Imagn Images
Carbonatix Pre-Player Loader
Audio By Carbonatix
A number of former Celtics players were invited to partake in the parade the team held after the franchise secured its 18th NBA title in 2024. However, Kendrick Perkins was noticeably absent, and it turns out that was not a coincidence.
Kendrick Perkins is one of the many former professional athletes who’ve pivoted to a career in the media after their playing days came to an end, and the big man who spent 14 years in the NBA landed a gig with ESPN after hanging up his sneakers in 2018.
That job has seen Perkins transform into a bit of a Hot Take Artist who routinely serves up spicy NBA takes seemingly designed to rile people up, and he’s not afraid to fire shots at guys he used to play with or the teams he was once a member of.
That includes the Boston Celtics, who obtained him immediately after he was drafted with the 27th overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft and won their first championship in 24 years while he was serving as their starting center during the 2007-08 campaign.
The Celtics secured another title in 2024 with the help of a squad of guys Perkins had vocally criticized prior to their championship run, and while the duck boats that subsequently made their way through the streets of Boston were home to notable names including Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce, Perkins was noticeably absent.
Brian Scalabrine strongly suggested the franchise had labeled him a persona non grata, and we have some more insight into the state of affairs courtesy of Wyc Grousbeck, the outgoing owner who shed some light on why Perkins was excluded during a conversation on the Club 520 podcast.
Grousbeck asserted he doesn’t personally hold any ill will against Perkins but noted that wasn’t the case with some other people affiliated with the franchise, saying:
“He wasn’t invited to our parade last year, that is true, because he had been giving people a lot of s—t.
So I had family members of players saying, ‘If that guy’s in the parade, I’m not in the parade.’ So I said, ‘OK, you win.’”
Perkins claimed he wouldn’t have shown up even if he had been invited, but I guess we’ll never know.