KENDRICK Perkins slammed his former general manager as “a snake” after claiming he cost Perk an NBA title.
The ESPN analyst, 40, sensationally revealed he “despises” and “hates” the boss who ruined the end of his career.
Not afraid to speak his mind, Perkins called out former New Orleans Pelicans GM Dell Demps – who now works for the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Discussing the most unexpected trades late in their NBA careers with on Road Trippin’, Perk launched into an incredible rant about Demps.
He said: “Mine was the trade that didn’t happen. So, I’m playing for the Pelicans, and it probably cost me a championship, to be honest with you.
“Either way, it did. So, I’m playing with the Pelicans and I’m backing up Alexis Ajinça, Ömer Aşık. I’m a veteran in the locker room.
“This is when I developed the relationship with Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday. I’m with the Pelicans. We’re not winning sh*t.
“At the time, Dell Demps, by the way, I don’t have a lot of people that I hate. I despise him, and I wish the worst for him in the basketball space.
“And I’m not afraid to say it. I would tell him in his face. I can’t stand that motherf***er. I can’t. He’s a liar. He done lied to so many people. He’s a snake and I hate him.”
Perkins was talking about his final years with the Pelicans[/caption]
Why? Because at the 2015-16 trade deadline, Perks was on the verge of an exit back to the Cleveland Cavaliers or Oklahoma City Thunder.
Perks, who won an NBA title with the Boston Celtics in 2008, was ready for the call.
Lebron James told Perks at the time that the Cavs wanted him back. Kevin Durant at OKC did too.
Perk says Cleveland reportedly offered a second-round pick for him that year, the same year they overturned a 3-1 Finals deficit against the Warriors to win it all in 2016.
But it never happened.
Perkins added: “Dell Demps comes to me and says, ‘I’m not trading you, Perk. We’re not trading you. We want you here for our locker room. You’re going to retire a Pelican.’”
“I’m like, ‘Oh, okay. So you telling me?’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, we want you here for the next two years. Retire. We’re gonna have a plan.’
“So, I’m like, ‘Oh sh*t, I get two more years without having to worry?’ Because at that point, I don’t know where my career is going to be honest with y’all.
“At that point, it’s like vet minimum, and once you get on vet minimum, you’re stuck on vet minimum.”
He even turned down a vet-minimum offer from his hometown Rockets — a chance to play with James Harden — because he’d already given his word to Demps.
But Demps soon changed the plans the following season in 2016-2017 – he told Perk he would be coming back.
He took at least one or two years off of my career, while I could’ve been on the bench, averaging 1500 f***ing claps.
Perkins
“I was like, ‘What the f*ck?’. I cussed his motherf***ing ass out right there on the phone. I cussed him out. So, I hung up, and truth be told, right then, I had no more options.
“So, that next year, I was completely out of the league. Now, you’ve possibly cost me a championship.
“At the beginning of free agency, the Rockets contacted me like, ‘Hey, we got a vet minimum on the table for you. Right now. Stay in Houston.’ That next year, I had no job.
“I’m not blaming him for the direction my NBA career went, but he played a huge f**ing part.
“He took at least one or two years off of my career, while I could’ve been on the bench, averaging 1500 f***ing claps.”
While one door closed on his basketball career, another opened at ESPN.
Perkins’ analysis has got him into trouble with his former Celtics team-mates.
He was not invited to the Celtics’ title parade in 2024.
