Celtics

Brian Scalabrine shares Celtics don’t really have ‘an open-arms thing with Kendrick Perkins’

Perkins wasn't a part of the Celtics' celebrations after winning the NBA Finals.

By Conor Roche

June 22, 2024

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Members of the 2023-24 Celtics weren’t the only ones celebrating the franchise’s 18th NBA championship as part of the duck boat parade through Boston on Friday.

A handful of members from the Celtics’ previous championship-winning squad were also on hand for Friday’s festivities. Paul Pierce, Eddie House, Brian Scalabrine, and Leon Powe were among those seen representing the 2007-08 Celtics squad, having their own duck boat for the parade.

Kendrick Perkins, the starting center for the 2008 title team, wasn’t seen though at Friday’s parade. It doesn’t seem like he was wanted there, either.

In between the Celtics’ championship win on Monday and Friday’s parade, Scalabrine hinted that Perkins might not be welcomed around the team like other past players are.

“No, no, no, no, no, no,” Scalabrine said when asked if Perkins was at the afterparty for the Celtics’ title win on his SiriusXM Radio show, “The Starting Lineup,” with Frank Isola. “Big scarlet letter. … It’s not really an open-arms thing with Kendrick Perkins.”

Scalabrine didn’t elaborate too much further, only saying “I know” as his co-host whistled in a way that insinuated things weren’t great between Perkins and the franchise.

Perkins, who played for the Celtics from 2003-11, has made some notable critical comments about a couple of key members of the organization in the past. Following a game in January 2022, Perkins took a shot at Jayson Tatum as he congratulated Jaylen Brown for recording a triple-double. Tatum took exception to it, responding to Perkins, “Normalizing uplifting one man without bringing another one down.”

In January, Perkins criticized Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla following a loss to the Nuggets.

“You wonder, if you take [Mazzulla’s] brain out, and you put it in a bird, the bird is going to start flying backward,” Perkins said on ESPN. “You know why I say that? Because he doesn’t get these guys easy looks.”

Mazzulla seemed to respond to Perkins’s comment when asked to give an injury update ahead of a game in January.

“I’m a bird brain, you know I can’t do that,” Mazzulla told reporters.

Perkins also advocated for the Celtics to split up Tatum and Brown following their Eastern Conference finals loss to the Heat in 2023.

In an interview with 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Felger and Mazz” in May, Perkins explained that his criticisms of the team come from the expectations he has of the Celtics.

“The last time I checked, the 8.5 years I played for Boston, the expectations were never [to be] mediocre or just good. It was always to be great and hang banners,” Perkins said.

“What people have to understand is this: I don’t work for the Boston Celtics. Now, my heart will forever be with the Celtics, but I don’t work for the Boston Celtics,” Perkins added. “As part of doing my job for the national media and covering the entire league, I do have to go on television and speak on how I feel. It has to come from a real, authentic place. I cannot be a homer on television. I can’t do it. Do I want the Celtics to win and hang Banner 18? Hell yeah, I do.”

Perkins initially began his media career working for NBC Sports Boston while also working for ESPN. He mostly joined NBC Sports Boston’s studio shows from a remote location and called a handful of Celtics games, alongside Scalabrine. However, Perkins didn’t appear on a pre- or post-game show on NBC Sports Boston for a Celtics game this season.

Perkins insisted that his diminishing appearances on NBC Sports Boston were due to his increasing obligations for ESPN, not because of any input from the Celtics.

“ESPN started working me a little bit more,” Perkins told “Felger and Mazz.” “So, I couldn’t fully commit.

“Imagine them kicking a guy who helped them lift Banner 17 off the scent,” Perkins added. “They can’t do that. They can get mad at me at times, but they can get over it.”

While Perkins wasn’t a part of any of the celebrations, he did congratulate the Celtics after they won the title on Monday, too.

“I didn’t believe they could get it done with Joe style of play. I thought that Tatum and Brown couldn’t do it together,” Perkins wrote in a social media post. “They proved me wrong and 16 years later after I help deliver Banner 17 this @celtics team just completed the mission in dominating fashion to bring Banner 18 to the City of Boston. Much Credit to Brad Stevens for putting this all together.”