Is there a beef between the Boston Celtics and their former center Kendrick Perkins? It depends who you ask. While members of Boston’s 2008 championship team were part of the duck boat parade celebrating Boston’s 2024 championship, Perkins, the center on that team, was notably absent.
Perkins said he didn’t know he was supposed to be there. His teammate on that team, Brian Scalabrine, said Perkins wasn’t invited. Cedric Maxwell, a two-time champion with the Celtics, weighed on on what might have happened, and he seemed to lean in the direction of Scalabrine.
Kendrick Perkins Labels Brian Scalabrine a Coward After Celtics Parade Talk
Days after the Celtics won their NBA-best 18th championship by defeating the Dallas Mavericks in five games, the city held a parade to honor the team. Players and families rode in duck boats along the parade route, and members of Boston’s last championship team in 2008 also were spotted in boats.
Perkins, a center on the ’08 squad and an often-critical NBA analyst today, wasn’t present. Earlier in the season, Perkins was highly critical of the Celtics. He singled out head coach Joe Mazzulla, referring to him as a bird brain.
“No, no, no, no, no, no,” Scalabrine said on his radio show, per Boston.com, when asked if Perkins was invited to Boston’s parade. “Big scarlet letter. … It’s not really an open-arms thing with Kendrick Perkins.”
Scalabrine’s comments triggered a response from Perkins, who labeled his former teammate a coward.
“Right now I feel like Scal is a coward,” Perkins said during a radio appearance on 98.5 The Sports Hub in Boston. “Was I the only 2008 member missing from the duck boat? No, I wasn’t. (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 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.”
Former Celtics Champ Cedric Maxwell Give His Opinion on the Scal-Perkins Beef
Do the Celtics hold a grudge against Perkins for saying negative things about the team? Was he really not invited to the parade? Maxwell, who won championships with the Celtics in 1981 and 1984, gave his opinion on the debacle during an episode of the “Cedric Maxwell Podcast.”
“The organization could not have been happy with some of the things Perk said,” said Maxwell, a current radio broadcaster for the Celtics. “I work for the organization. People have called me and said, ‘Well, you might’ve wanted to phrase it (differently).’
“I remember one of the lines I used. It was when Kevin Garnett was out. I was on TV and the guy asked if I thought the Celtics could win when Kevin Garnett got hurt the year after they won the championship. I said, ‘No. It’s impossible,’ and I got a call saying you might want to rephrase that.
“Obviously, I was right, but when they perceive you as part of the organization… Perk will lay his head on the fact that, look in ’08, we won the championship. I was on that team. So, it’s kind of hard to say one way that I was part of this organization, but on the other hand be overly critical about a guy like Joe Mazzulla.
“I can understand you said I don’t agree with what he did. I’ve said that before. The bird-brain thing, that would rub this organization the wrong way.”
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