With a straight face and knowing it would go public, Kendrick Perkins claimed that he was instrumental in OKC's 2012 run to the NBA Finals by "locking up" Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol, and Tim Duncan. He also threw in Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker's names as victims of his stalwart defense during the infamous series when the Spurs lost four straight games to the Thunder after winning the first two.
KP is known for two things: messing up Moses Moody's name during live coverage of the NBA Draft and saying ridiculous things on ESPN. Whether the things he says are for shock value or if he actually believes the nonsense he spouts is up for debate. The unfortunate part is that we have to hear them regardless of the inspiration that generates these egregious thoughts.
This is the same man who claimed that [Anthony Davis was the best power forward](https://airalamo.com/posts/spurs-twitter-unites-remind-kendrick-perkins-doesnt-know-ball) of all time. That's a truly horrific assertion that nobody who has ever watched basketball for more than 10 years should make. It tanks your credibility, if you ever had any in the first place. This latest claim only adds to the painted-faced persona the triple-single averaging center has built for himself.
Perkins was at the bottom of the list of reasons the Spurs lost that series
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I remember plenty of things about that Spurs playoff run. San Antonio was on a 20-game winning streak spanning back to the regular season, winning their final 10 games of the year and sweeping the first two rounds before encountering the Thunder. That's what makes losing the Western Conference Finals that season painful.
It felt as if the Silver and Black were on a collision course with the Miami Heat during that postseason run. I think of almost every other player on their roster as a reason that didn't happen before I think of Perkins. Even Kevin Durant had a sarcastic comment for KP's alleged value.
So, let's go down the line here. Dirk averaged 27 points in that series. Losing it probably had more to do with the Mavericks' inability to re-sign Tyson Chandler and JJ Barea—two important components of the previous year's championship team. Durant averaged 27, Russell Westbrook put up 22 a game, and James Harden was throwing 18 on top of that. Not to mention, OKC was the two seed to Dallas' seventh seed.
Pau Gasol wasn't even an all-star at 32 that year, but he averaged 17 and nine during the regular season. He averaged 17 and 10 during that series. Is that what we call "locking up" Pau Gasol? I'd certainly hope not. Don't even get me started on Andrew Bynum. He had a very short stint as a semi-dominant player, and that time had passed by 2012, and he was out of the league a couple of years later.
Tim Duncan was 35 years old, man. A power forward/center at that age over a decade ago was an elder statesman. Sure, Duncan was still getting buckets. That's what makes him great. But he wasn't the focal part of the offense, and his output was inconsistent because of it.
The Big Fundamental averaged 14 points against Utah in the first round, 21 against the Clippers in the conference semifinals, and 17 against OKC. He averaged 15 and nine during the regular season. I ask again, is that what we call "locking up?" Perkins also claimed that he guarded Tim one-on-one, but that's also not true.
The Thunder had a dynamic young core that included one of the league's best shot blockers: Serge Ibaka. Ibaka provided help defense and averaged 2.7 blocks per game in that series. What contributed was some version of [what you'll see in this clip](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3tiboAeNgw&ab_channel=Sbarrow711), and you'll even see in this video that took me three seconds to find that Perkins was getting help for Serge.
But besides the athleticism they displayed on defense, it was hard to stop them. Not Perkins; he averaged 5.8 points. Durantula averaged 30, Harden averaged 19 and shot 60% from three, and Russell Westbrook averaged 18 points and seven assists.
Ibaka had a nice midrange, too. He could finish around the basket with decent consistency if you slept on him. He averaged 12 points in that series. Hell, Thabo Sefolosha averaged more points (8 ppg) than KP.
I'm only going to quickly touch on his claim of stopping Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili... Knock it off.