Kendrick Perkins is still recovering from the wrist injury that hampered him during the playoffs last year. Which means during the preseason we are going to see a lot of Cole Aldrich, Hasheem Thabeet and anyone else vying to be his backup at the five (Daniel Orton, for one).
Early this past summer there had been a buzz the Thunder might amnesty Perkins to make it less painful on them when it came time o re-sign James Harden. Then the Lakers went out and traded for Dwight Howard and now Perkins seems an essential counter the Thunder must keep.
Perkins, he doesn’t worry about any of that. You mortals may worry, but Perkins is confident and fearless and doesn’t share your petty concerns. Start with the Lakers, for example, here is what Perkins told the Oklahoman.
“I knew the hype was going to be over there on (the Lakers) and all that. But I’m glad the attention is off us because we’re the type that likes to put our hard hats on and do stuff and keep it under the radar. And at the end of the day, when you look at the box score, Oklahoma won. That’s the way we like to keep it….
“We are the Western Conference champs,” Perkins said. “So at the end of the day, we’re not chasing nobody except for the ring. We’re chasing Miami to get a championship. It’s no guarantee who is going to be where. But we earned the Western champs so we’re not chasing the Lakers, we’re chasing a championship and that’s what it’s about.”
What about all those guys chasing Perkins for minutes? Again, your concern not his. From a separate Oklahoman interview:
“We’re all teammates, but at the end of the day, the center position over here is mine and that’s the way we’re going to keep it,” said Perkins, wearing a brace on his left wrist. “Any other way, backup minutes or whatever they want to go about, that’s their problem. Once I hit the court, I’m going to make it known — and it’s going to be known — that that’s mine.
“It’s no beef, but at the end of the day, that’s what it is.”
You really need to re-read that last quote while picturing Perkins’ scowl. The man can still be intimidating.
