Kendrick Perkins slams Kyrie Irving for being a ‘distraction,’ NBA players respond

Kendrick Perkins ripped Kyrie Irving for not supporting the NBA’s restart plans, and players fired back at Perkins on Twitter.

Kyrie Irving is out of the rest of the NBA season, but has become a central figure in discussions surrounding the NBA’s plan to return and play in an Orlando bubble environment in July. Irving emerged as a leading voice against the NBA’s proposal last week, and reportedly said on a conference call with players that he does not support a return to basketball.

A few days after that call, a coalition of players including Irving issued a statement calling for action with regards to racial injustice, health and safety issues, and financial issues, among other concerns.

Via ESPN:

“This is not about individual players, athletes or entertainers. This is about our group of strong men and women uniting for change. We have our respective fields, however, we will not just shut up and play to distract us from what this whole system has been about: Use and Abuse.

We are all fathers, daughters, leaders and so much more. So what is our BIG picture? We are in this for UNITY and CHANGE!”

According to former NBA player and current ESPN commentator Kendrick Perkins, Irving has become the exact distraction he sought to avoid. In an interview on Wednesday, Perkins ripped Irving for taking the spotlight away from ongoing violence against Black people.

“If you take Kyrie Irving’s brain and put it in a bird right now, guess what that bird is going to do? It’s going to fly backwards, because Kyrie right now, he’s confused. He’s showing his lack of leadership. Here it is, Kyrie, you have been on these conference calls over the last two months. You’re the vice president of the Players Association. You have been very involved in all this that has been taking place as far as whether or not we’re going to play or not, and you have been on the phone and you have voted to play.

….. In my opinion, when you look at Kyrie, I’m OK with you changing your mind and having a different way of thinking and saying ‘you know what, we need to make a stand and sit out.’ But what is the plan after that? He didn’t have one! So once again that showed his lack of leadership. And guess what’s been going on for the last two days in our world? Two people have been lynched in the state of Texas. A young African-American young lady was killed in Akron, Ohio behind a hate crime, and has that been highlighted like it should’ve been? No. Because for the last two days we have been talking about Kyrie Irving. So Kyrie Irving, right now you are the distraction. You are the distractor. You’re distracting the whole situation.”

Perkins later followed up on Twitter, writing that he went easy on Irving.

A few players responded to the segment on social media, including Irving’s Nets teammate Wilson Chandler.

Kevin Durant retweeted Chandler, along with a video of Perkins shooting an airball. Durant also called Perkins a “sell out” in an Instagram comment.

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