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Kevin Durant flamed former teammate Kendrick Perkins for his claim that he was the “real leader” of the 2012-13 Oklahoma City Thunder squad that went to the NBA Finals. That team famously included KD, James Harden, and Russell Westbrook.
After the trade deadline came and went with Kevin Durant remaining in Phoenix with the Suns, the future Hall of Famer took to social media to flame his former teammate Kendrick Perkins, who claimed to be the leader of the 2012 Thunder squad that won the Western Conference but lost in the finals to the “Big 3” Miami Heat.
“It doesn’t mean your best player is your leader. When I was with the Thunder, it wasn’t KD, it wasn’t Russ, it wasn’t James, I was the one leading,” Perkins said earlier this week.
Clearly taken aback by Perkins’ asinine claim, Durant took to X, formerly Twitter, to roast Perkins by saying that despite all of the crazy trades that took place in the NBA over the last few days, his leadership claims are “by far the craziest s— I’ve seen this week.”
To be fair to Perkins, he did start in 78 games for the Thunder that year and was clearly the veteran, physical presence in the starting five alongside KD, Harden, Russ, and Serge Ibaka. Those are different qualities than leadership, however.
The 36 year old Durant, now in his 17th season in the NBA, is averaging 26.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game with the Phoenix Suns. According to reports, the Minnesota Timberwolves tried to acquire Durant at the deadline with a “last ditch effort.”
The Golden States Warriors also reportedly explored a deal for Durant, however, KD swiftly shot the idea down, leaking to the media that he had ‘no desire’ to return to the franchise that he won two NBA titles with.