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“I was DUPED! TRICKED! This Lakers team is the BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT!”: Kendrick Perkins thinks that the 2021-22 LeBron James and co. are the biggest chokers in NBA History

Arun Sharma
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"I was DUPED! TRICKED! This Lakers team is the BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT!": Kendrick Perkins thinks that the 2021-22 LeBron James and co. are the biggest chokers in NBA History

Kendrick Perkins has a lot of things to say for a man who was a glorified Brian Scalabrine – they both were NBA benchwarmers.

The world was shocked when the Los Angeles Lakers announced Russell Westbrook as the next marquee signing – Kendrick Perkins was one of them. After lobbying for him to join LeBron James, he finally got his wish. To the casual viewer, it looked like the Lakers were set for a grandstand finish – a redemption for their first-round exit.

Oh, but how untrue that turned out to be – for they played worse than Houston for long stretches. Every game they played showed glimpses of how the 2020 roster was the best they could do. Too many cooks spoiled a broth that was ready to run it back to back. Rob Pelinka tinkered with something that was already the best, by trying to add more faff.

That ploy fell flat the minute the big three stepped on the court for their pre-season games. Losing 6 straight was indication enough even for Stevie Wonder, but the whole group was adamant about their abilities. 79 games later, they are worse than the San Antonio Spurs, who are in the middle of a rebuild. Imagine 3 top 75 players of all-time losing to a bunch of kids.

Also Read: “Just like his jersey number, does Russell Westbrook have 0 brain cells?”: NBA Twitter roasts Brodie for planning to run it back with LeBron James and Anthony Davis

Kendrick Perkins needs to go back 9 months to listen to what he had to say – the man is the opposite of a soothsayer

In the 2021 offseason, a passionate Perkins was heard saying on “First Take” spearheaded by Skip Bayless that the purple and gold would be foolish to not go all-in for Russell Westbrook. Fast forward 9 months later, he’s berating the same team for being callous with their decision-making. Do not write checks your mouth can’t cash Big Perk because the world sees you as an “analyst”.

While what he says may be true to an extent, this recruiting pattern could be spotted from a mile away – it was a carbon copy of the infamous 2012-13 Lakers team. The front office should have known experience does not do anything for the team when the league is becoming younger and faster by the second.

The purple and gold had the oldest team in the league this season and were caught from day one. None of them were capable enough of stopping the likes of Ja Morant or D’Aron Fox on transition. They did not have a center standing under the rim to catch all those bricks being thrown by Brodie. Frank Vogel did not know his best rotation, ending the season with more game-day squads(39) than wins (31).

Also Read: “R.I.P Los Angeles Lakers”: LeBron James and Co get officially eliminated from the post-season, Phoenix Suns send them packing yet again

About the author

Arun Sharma

Arun Sharma

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Arun Sharma is an NBA Editor at The SportsRush. A double degree holder and a digital marketer by trade, Arun has always been a sports buff. He fell in love with the sport of basketball at a young age and has been a Lakers fan since 2006. What started as a Kobe Bryant obsession slowly turned into a lifelong connection with the purple and gold. Arun has been an ardent subscriber to the Mamba mentality and has shed tears for a celebrity death only once in his life. He believes January 26, 2020, was the turning point in the passage of time because Kobe was the glue holding things together. From just a Lakers bandwagoner to a basketball fanatic, Arun has spent 16 long years growing up along with the league. He thinks Stephen Curry has ruined basketball forever, and the mid-range game is a sight to behold. Sharma also has many opinions about football (not the American kind), F1, MotoGP, tennis, and cricket.

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