Kendrick Perkins put James Harden on blast for underperforming against Miami Heat in the 2012 NBA Finals, attributing it to his partying.
Advertisement
The OKC Thunder and Miami Heat were considered basically neck-and-neck going into the Finals that year. Although the Heat were the more experienced team, the Thunder trio were playing the most exciting basketball of their careers.
Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook were able to pull their weight for the most part. But Harden wilted under the stifling perimeter defense of the Heat. He posted the less-than-ideal figures of 37.5% from the field and 31.8% from the 3-point line. His averages of 12.4 points and 3 turnovers per game were a huge detriment to the Thunder offense.
The rest of the Thunder were all even more off base. Perkins himself had possibly his worst playoff series ever, which is why it is quite like a pot calling the kettle black here.
Kendrick Perkins accuses James Harden of visiting too many strip clubs in Miami during 2012 Finals
Matt Barnes recently hosted Kendrick Perkins for one of the most revealing episodes of the ‘All the Smoke’ podcast. Perk is among those talking heads who seem to seek controversy with whatever they say. His take on James Harden seems to be pretty much in the same vein:
“Man, James ain’t give a s*** and you know why. Motherfing King of Diamonds and everything cut a hole in his hands. In San Antonio, you didn’t have a damn thing to do. S, we got to motherfing Miami, it was every-motherfing-thing to do. We couldn’t get that motherfker to buy a bucket in that motherfer.”
Big perk on how Harden’s stripper habit cost them in the finals. pic.twitter.com/yx06lozdGl
— Mimi (@ItsShowTimeMimi) February 1, 2021
While Perkins was basically out of the league 3 years after the Finals, Harden was traded to the Houston Rockets. He blossomed into a perennial MVP candidate and multiple scoring champion in H-Town. But he’s yet to win a title, while Perkins has one despite having the much worse career.
