“Starting center averaged a whopping 2 and 3”: Kevin Durant’s rib-tickling banter with Kendrick Perkins from 3 years ago goes viral
There was a time when the OKC Thunder had one of the NBA's most talented teams. During the 2012-13 season, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Kendrick Perkins were all on their roster. However, during that season, the Thunder didn't get past the Western Conference semifinals.
In a 2020 exchange on Twitter, Kendrick Perkins responded to a fan, noting how Durant failed to make a deep postseason run with the Thunder despite being partnered with Westbrook. Durant fired back, noting how the 2012-13 saw Perkins average "2 (points) and 3" rebounds per game (4.2 points and 6.0 rebounds per game). That exchange recently went viral.
"Yea and our starting center Kendrick Perkins averaged a whopping 2 and 3 during that series. U played hard tho champ," Durant tweeted.
However, during that playoff run for the Thunder, Perkins was the only member of that trio with championship experience (winning the 2008 title with the Boston Celtics). To this day, Westbrook is still waiting to earn his first ring after bouncing from team to team in the latter years of his career.
Durant spent six years with the Thunder before moving to the Golden State Warriors, where he won back-to-back championships. However, since leaving the Bay Area, Durant has found it difficult to recapture that success, although he will be hoping to have a successful tenure with the Phoenix Suns in the coming years.
OKC made the 2012 NBA Finals with Durant, Westbrook and Perkins along with 2011-12 Sixth Man of the Year James Harden, who was traded to the Houston Rockets in October 2012.
Kendrick Perkins recently poked fun at himself in light of Kevin Durant's previous comments
Recently, a post on X (Twitter) pointed out that Kendrick Perkins has had more playoff wins than 24 NBA teams since the year 2000. Following the post, Perkins shared it to his followers with a caption regarding the narrative surrounding his late-career postseason averages.
Perkins was clearly joking at his own production level. However, it was also a shot at anyone who has questioned his impact on an NBA floor during his career. Since Kevin Durant's tweet regarding Perkins' poor showing during the 2012-13 playoffs, a narrative has formed regarding the veteran big man's production and impact on the franchises he played for.
Yes, Perkins was never a high-scoring big man who would dominate teams in the paint. However, it's no coincidence that many teams Perkins played for had legitimate playoff success. During his career, Perkins participated in 782 regular-season games, starting 565. In the postseason, the bruising big man played in 143 contests, starting 129.
Durant's tweet from 2020 was clearly meant as a joke. Yet it had an unintended outcome. Now, Perkins' legacy as a floor raiser has faded, and in its place is a narrative that he wasn't a capable big, despite his undoubted success in the NBA.