Don’t expect Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins to be getting together over the holidays anytime soon.
The two NBA players got into a social media spat on Monday over what Ibaka deemed to be a personal attack on him from his former teammate.
The issue at hand stemmed from an ESPN segment between Perkins and JJ Reddick who were discussing the Oklahoma City Thunder when all three of James Harden, Russell Westbrook, and Kevin Durant were members of the organization:
Evidently the comment didn’t sit well with Ibaka who took to Twitter to vent his frustrations. In a series of posts, Ibaka commented “Hey @KendrickPerkins, I count my blessings every day and I don’t usually react to comments about me. But It’s disappointing to hear someone I shared a locker room with spreading misinformation to be relevant and get views on TV and social media.”
“You can talk about my game If I don’t play well, I will never have a problem with that. But to talk extra for no reason is really not acceptable. It is disrespectful to me and I feel like it is disrespectful to many Africans who have to live with that unfounded accusation.”
“If I was 30 in OKC I guess I am 45 now? The truth is I never lied about my age and I work extremely hard everyday without cheating and I have never been suspended. Everyone in the league knows that. You cheated and didn’t respect the game.”
“Although I am disappointed I am not surprised to see these actions from someone who got his job by breaking the locker room code and by spreading lies about two of his former teammates and brothers like KD and Russ.”
“When KD had a bad game you criticized him behind his back, and when Russ had a bad game then you criticized him. You were not a locker room leader, and then you continued doing the same in the media.”
“I understand everyone needs to do their job and take care of their families, but you are proof not everybody knows how to do it with class and dignity. I have more to say about you but I am not that kind of person, but this time you went too far.”
Perkins in turn responded simply with “Bro it was damn joke [sic]. Stop being so damn sensitive.”
While most assumed the back and forth would fizzle out following Perkins’ retort, the former Celtics big man came back with another salvo some 20 minutes later.
“Did you say spreading lies at @sergeibaka ? Please don’t get me started homie!!!! Please don’t. I’m not about to talk about those OKC days and what you were doing in that locker room. I will not… but you definitely need to stop because you know I KNOW!!!! Carry on tho…”.
Ibaka and Perkins were teammates in Oklahoma City between 2010-2014, though it doesn’t appear as though there’s any love lost between the two in the years since.
Photo: Keith Allison. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.