KENDRICK Perkins was not invited to the Boston Celtics’ title celebrations, it has been confirmed.
Perkins, 40, starred on the 2008 NBA Championship-winning team in Boston.
Kendrick Perkins was not invited to Boston Celtics’ championship celebrations last summer[/caption]
Outgoing Wyc Grousbeck claimed he still loves Perkins[/caption]
He turned to a career in media and is now an analyst for ESPN.
His opinions on basketball have led to some apparent ill-feeling within the organization.
The U.S. Sun last year revealed Perkins had “lost all respect” within the Celtics franchise.
And outgoing team owner Wyc Grousbeck confirmed Perkins was not invited to celebrate last year’s title.
Grousbeck sold the team for $6.1 billion in March having overseen their 2024 NBA Championship win.
He spoke on the 520 Podcast this week, where he claimed that he still “loves” Perkins.
“He wasn’t invited to our parade last year, that is true,” Grousbeck said.
“Because he had been giving people a lot of s**t.
“So I had family members of players saying, ‘If that guy’s in the parade, I’m not in the parade.’
“So I said, ‘OK, you win.’”
The U.S. Sun revealed last summer that some members of the Celtics organization had grown tired of Perkins’ criticism.
A source said, “He criticizes the franchise and the players, uses very bad words to criticize the coach, the players and he expects to be respected in return?
“That doesn’t work like this, life doesn’t work like this. If you start a fire, expect to be burned.
“He came to try to play it nice many times, but I can call his bulls**t very fast, and that kind of behavior is very disrespectful.
“We aren’t dumb, we know the TV and the spotlight probably got into his head, but you can’t insult people and expect them to say hi to you or be nice with you.
“I don’t know if people here are going to forgive him, but I really think that he won’t be welcome as a Celtic anymore.”
One of the duck boats participating in the 2024 title celebrations last summer featured Perkins’ 2008 championship-winning teammates Paul Pierce, Eddie House, Brian Scalabrine, and Leon Powe.
Asked about Perkins’ absence, Scalabrine claimed on his Sirius XM show The Starting Lineup that Perkins has a “big scarlet letter” over his name in the area.
“It’s not really an open-arms thing with Kendrick Perkins,” he claimed.
Not afraid to speak his mind, Perkins fired back.
“Right now I feel like Scal is a coward,” Perkins told 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Felger & Mazz last October.
“Scal was there and Paul was there. There was still 11 other guys missing.
“And to be honest with you, if I would’ve gotten an invite, which I didn’t – I didn’t know we was supposed to – but anyways, nine times out of 10, I would’ve turned it down.
“That’s not our moment. That’s 2024’s moment. Let those guys have their moment.”
