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Kendrick Perkins Names Thunder GOAT Without Hesitation

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Orlando Silva | Last updated May 23, 2025 7:29 PM ET

Kendrick Perkins declared who he believes is the greatest Oklahoma City Thunder player of all time. Since their move from Seattle and rebranding from the Supersonics to the Thunder, the team has had remarkable players.

Starting with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook and finishing with Serge Ibaka, Steven Adams and James Harden, the Thunder has had many incredible players who left a big mark on the franchise.

The new era of the team, which started with the Paul George trade during the 2019 NBA offseason, is getting closer to emulating what the 2011-12 team, led by Durant, Westbrook, Ibaka and Harden, achieved.

After a 118-103 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday, Oklahoma City is two wins away from returning to the NBA Finals after 13 years.

During Friday's episode of ESPN's "NBA Today," Perkins weighed in on this discussion. He went with the newly-crowned MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as the Thunder GOAT.

"Let's talk about SGA. The greatest Thunder of all time," Perkins said. "He already joined the company of Michael Jordan this year, three consecutive seasons with 30 [points], shooting over 50%. He holds the MVP trophy and now he's on his way to go on the the NBA Finals and he's going to win the NBA championship and he's gonna become Finals MVP.

"We're watching a young man right now who is the best perimeter player in the game of basketball on the offensive end. And right now, the way that he's playing, he's unguardable. He's not gonna stop, he's in the zone and we heard the leadership."

.@KendrickPerkins believes SGA is the greatest OKC Thunder player of all-time pic.twitter.com/whJD2ocuOF
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) May 23, 2025

This remark comes hours after Durant took a jab at Perkins on social media. After the ESPN analyst flexed that his defense against legends such as Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol, Tim Duncan and former Los Angeles Lakers star Andrew Bynum played a role in the Thunder's impressive Finals run in 2012. Then, Durant mocked that claim with a four-word message.

"The actual real mvp," the two-time NBA champion wrote.

It's unclear if he came to this realization after Durant's trolling, but as a former member of the Thunder, Perkins' voice holds some weight among fans.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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