Kendrick Perkins Rips LeBron James For Tweet On Blake Griffin Dunk

If you have what some are calling the greatest dunk of all-time performed at your expense then, naturally, you're going to hear about it for a while. So it's of little surprise that more than a week after Blake Griffin made Kendrick Perkins a key aspect of future NBA posters for all the wrong reasons, the Oklahoma City Thunder center is still defensive about it.

According to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, Perkins has taken exception to one player's comments in regards to the dunk. Perhaps not surprisingly, he was particularly bothered by a tweet from the (second) most hated man in the NBA:

@KingJames
LeBron James

Dunk of the Year!! @blakegriffin just dunked on Kendrick Perkins so hard!! Wow!! I guess I'm #2 now. Move over #6

January 31, 2012 5:06 am via Echofon Reply Retweet Favorite

Perkins didn't appreciate James' gloating, as he explained:

"You don't see Kobe [Bryant] tweeting," Perkins said. "You don’t see Michael Jordan tweeting. If you're an elite player, plays like that don't excite you. At the end of the day, the guys who are playing for the right reasons who are trying to win championships are not worrying about one play.

"They also are not tweeting about themselves talking about going down to No. 2. I just feel [James] is always looking for attention and he wants the world to like him."

Fortunately for Perkins, he isn't alone in his quest to downplay the significance of the dunk. Thunder teammate Kevin Durant played down the dunk in the media last week, calling the play a "lay up."

Perkins and Lebron are certainly familiar with one another, having staged several battles when both players played in the Eastern Conference -- Perkins with the Celtics, and James with the Cavaliers.

Whether James was indeed out of line or not with his comments is debatable, but we're now even more excited to watch the Heat visit the Thunder at the end of March, so that Perkins may express his displeasure with James' sentiments in a more formal setting. Of course, James could enter that game looking to surpass that Griffin jam.

Comments

[gixxerman]

11:13 AM on 02/09/2012

Don't fall into the Lebron hate machine. "The Man" would like any black athlete to fear being a villain anytime he decides to make another business decision. So what Kobe and Jordan doesn't tweet, both are older and out of the mainstream. Would they be downplaying it if it was another player?

[Thomas J McMahon]

12:15 AM on 02/24/2012

I'm sure the dislike for James has nothing to do with the fact that he's a complete narcissist who has "Chosen One".. "witness history" and his own initials tatooed on him and sometimes has referred to himself as "the King" without prompting from others. Ah I don't hate the guy; I'm not some mindless goon, but honestly guys like him and Allen Iverson have repugnant public personalities. I wouldn't say that about Derrick Rose. He's a classy guy in the press and doesn't constantly sound like an egomaniac. Lebron might be a swell guy in his private life, but his self-manufactured public persona is awful. Who stomps around all hyped after dunking when you're up 74-49 over the Pacers lol? Lebron. Probably the most physically talented player we've ever seen, but not exactly the classiest.

[independent32955-2]

10:33 AM on 02/09/2012

I had a lot of respect for Perkins in his response about how he'd defend Blake...they he pulls a "Big Baby" act over Lebron wishing Griffin well.

[RusStyles]

09:23 AM on 02/09/2012

LeBron was one of many players who tweeted about that posterific dunk. Perkins should respond on the court, and not in the press. It just makes him look small, and keeps the story fresh.

[M Smoove]

03:32 AM on 02/09/2012

I'm not a fan of "Queen" James or "Cry-Baby" Perkins... But its going to make for great theatre when the Heat and the Thunder hook up at the end of March.

[GeorgeGee]

12:34 AM on 02/09/2012

Boo hoo Perkins. You got posterized in a very classic way. You will be the subject of many highlights for years to come. The LeBron tweet wasn't mean spirited. Yes, he likely should have left Perkins name off the tweet. He mentions that Kobe didn't tweet about it. Are we to be impressed? Kobe is too busy carousing, womanizing and trying to avoid Colorado hotel employees. Then he mentions MJ. Why would MJ tweet? He retired eons ago. LeBron tweets alot. They're always harmless, and admittedly often ill conceived. He's just a big, immature kid in a superfreaks body. Shaq could be the ridiculous, obnoxious fool but it's LeBron who gets slammed when his biggest flaw is being naive.

I'll never really understand the hatred towards the guy. Compared to the atrocities we see athletes doing every day, LeBron is a saint. But it exists and the dude isn't ever going to get that monkey off his back. Even if he wins the title this year, it wont be enough. People will demand he win at least 5 before they finally tip their hat. And I guess to some degree, that demand is fair. He is the most amazing talent the game has seen in decades. He needs to bring it home. Yes, I'm a Heat fan. Yes, I agree that his legacy as a basketball player now rests solely on his ability to win championships. But as a human being, the kid doesn't deserve the vile hatred he gets.

[onehaft]

12:00 AM on 02/09/2012

LeBron who?

[KB43]

11:27 PM on 02/08/2012

Sorry about the double post,but look up the Video peeps!!

[KB43]

11:22 PM on 02/08/2012

I think Queen James forgets about the High School Student slammin down on him.Video was great.He got schooled by the kid.LOL.For some reason,he didnt tweet about that.

[KB43]

11:18 PM on 02/08/2012

I think Queen James forgets about the High School Student slammin down in his face makin him look reall ordinary,LMAO.Just shows the kinda dude he is.The Video is funny as hell.

[KB43]

11:16 PM on 02/08/2012

zz

[tyoung1267]

10:55 PM on 02/08/2012

LeDouche James

[WrongApeture]

10:47 PM on 02/08/2012

I thought so.
NBA Rings.
Kendrick Perkins - ONE.
LeBron James - ZERO.
Checkmate.

[chris784100]

10:43 PM on 02/08/2012

LeBron is just glad that there was another player to try to take the focus off him getting schooled in the finals by Dirk and choking. I know if I choked as bad as Legone did last year I would keep my mouth shut. LeGone you just need to worry about yourself and have no business commenting about others.

[tsapp10136]

10:40 PM on 02/08/2012

My favorite dunk of all time was the one that Darrly Dawkins did in about 1976. The NBA used it twice in the lead in to their nationaly televised games. Of course he took about four steps before he went up but dayum what a dunk. Does anybody know if it might be on U Tube?

[Tim Day]

11:59 PM on 02/08/2012

That probably Artist Gilmore from the Bulls or Dr J from the Sixers.....Dawkins broke a few backboards

[k535panther]

10:33 PM on 02/08/2012

I can't wait to see Griffin hammer one in LeBrons face, someone needs to bring this non leader back to earth.