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