Kendrick Perkins Is Beefing With Brian Scalabrine After His Ex-Teammate Implied The Celtics Want Nothing To Do With Him

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Kendrick Perkins and Brian Scalabrine played together for five years as members of the Celtics, but the former teammates have found themselves engaged in an escalating feud courtesy of a comment the latter made in the wake of Boston’s most recent championship.

Brian Scalabrine never came close to sniffing superstar status during the 11 seasons he played in the NBA, but the fan favorite who spent the vast majority of his career coming off of the bench will always be able to brag about the championship he won with the Boston Celtics in 2009.

He secured that title while playing alongside Kendrick Perkins, who found a bit more success in the league but ultimately retired with the same number of titles. Both of those men pivoted to broadcasting after hanging up their sneakers, and now, we’ve got a growing beef on our hands thanks to what transpired after the Celtics beat the Mavericks in the NBA Finals.

Earlier this week, Scalabrine (who works for NBC Sports Boston and also hosts a show on SiriusXM) hinted there’s some bad blood between the Celtics and Perkins on his radio program, saying the franchise doesn’t really have “an open-arms thing” with the man who spent his first seven seasons in Boston before being traded to the Thunder in 2010.

Scalabrine didn’t specify why Perkins doesn’t have the same relationship as other Celtics players who are still on good terms with the organization, but it’s not a stretch to assume it stems from the criticism the retired big man routinely throws their way while working as a talking head on ESPN.

On Monday, Perkins got the chance to respond while calling into Felger & Mazz for a chat where he labeled Scalabrine a “coward” for allegedly dodging his calls after making the aforementioned comment. He also called attention to other players who were absent from the festivities when the Celtics celebrated their 18th championship with a victory parade, noting:

“[Eddie] House, my guy, he was there. Leon Powe, great friend of mine as well, he was there. Scal was there and Paul [Pierce] was there. There were 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 were 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.”

It does sound like Perkins wants to clear things up with Scalabrine in private, so while they may be able to hash out their differences, I’d be lying if I said I don’t want to see things get a little spicier before we reach that point.