Kendrick Perkins was absent during the Boston Celtics victory parade to celebrate winning their 18th championship in franchise history. Former player and current NBC Sports Boston analyst Brian Scalabrine said during his SiriusXM radio show it was because the Celtics don’t “really an open-arms thing” with Perkins.
But if you ask Perkins, that’s not quite the case.
“Right now I feel like Scal is a coward. Was I the only 2008 member missing from the duck boat? No, I wasn’t,” Perkins said during an appearance on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Felger & Mazz.” “(Eddie) House, my guy, he was there. Leon Powe, great friend of mine as well, he was there. Scal was there and Paul (Pierce) was there. There was still 11 other guys missing. And to be honest with you, if I would’ve gotten an invite, which I didn’t — I didn’t know we was supposed to — but anyways, nine times out of 10, I would’ve turned it down. … That’s not our moment. That’s 2024′s moment. Let those guys have their moment.”
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Perkins, an analyst for ESPN, has never shied away from sharing his true feelings about the Celtics, which caused coach Joe Mazzulla to take a jab at the former NBA player earlier this year. Perkins has also taken shots at Jayson Tatum.
So given his ability to never hold back his feelings, Scalabrine’s comment about the Celtics not having an open-door policy seems like it could at least be a possibility. But Perkins feels Scalabrine is “ducking” him ever since making that statement.
“I got a problem with that,” Perkins said. “We can’t have a grown-man conversation?”
Whether the tension between the two continues remains to be seen. But the Celtics have had a busy last few days between celebrating in Miami and in Boston with the duck boat parade.
