Former New Orleans Pelicans center and current ESPN talking head Kendrick Perkins is no stranger to a hot, sometimes downright outlandish take. However, Perkins revealed that one of his most controversial takes about one NBA superstar led to consequences that even he wasn't prepared for.
During the 2021 Eastern Conference, Perkins opined on an episode of First Take that Khris Middleton was actually the Milwaukee Bucks' "Batman", while superstar and two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo was the one playing the role as "Robin".
"I've been preaching time and time again that he's the Batman of this team and Giannis is the Robin and look," Perkins said. "It's okay to be the Robin people think that's a bad thing. It's not.
"We all know that Giannis is a guy that could dominate the pain. He could get to the paint when he wants, but when it matters the most we have seen time and time again that Giannis freezes up in the big moments. When it matters the most, you could put the ball in Khris Middleton's hands and he delivers in great fashion."
Perkins even went as far as saying that Giannis knew that Middleton was the team's "Batman", which is why he allowed him to take over so often late in games.
"If Khris wants to take it over in the fourth, let him do it," Perkins said. "You know what? That told me that Giannis even knows that he's the Batman on his team."
It appears Giannis has some fervent fans on the internet who took some serious offense to Perkins' comments during the 2021 postseason. During a recent appearance on Channing Frye and Richard Jefferson's "Road Trippin'" podcast, Perkins revealed that he received death threats in response to his take that were so serious that he had to alert his employer, ESPN.
"I started getting a death threat," Perkins said. "It was going like to, to my wifes account and stuff like that. This dude was sending me threat after threat after threat. 'I'm gonna kill your kids', 'Soon as you get there, I know where you stay', 'I'm gonna murder you', like this is real life.
"I ain't really got time to be playing like this. So I tell, ESPN, ESPN goes and does some digging. They locked the motherf***er up. They found the dude and locked him up. This is a true story. And he was like, 'No, no, I wasn't serious'. Nah, motherf***er. You going to jail. Don't play like that."
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