Why Kendrick Perkins Has ‘Problem’ With Celtics Fans Amid Shaky Season
Are Celtics fans' expectations too low nowadays?
Kendrick Perkins ruffled some feathers over the weekend with a tweet praising Jaylen Brown for his triple-double in the Boston Celtics’ win over the New York Knicks.
Not because Perkins said anything negative about Brown. But because he also, in the same tweet, noted Jayson Tatum’s lackluster stat line from that particular game.
Tatum made a stink, quote-tweeting Perkins and calling for everyone to normalize “uplifting one man without bringing another one down.” And some Celtics fans on social media even rushed to Tatum’s defense, which Perkins believes speaks to a greater issue surrounding Boston.
“I’m a huge fan of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. But then I have a bigger problem. And it has nothing to do with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown at this moment,” Perkins said on the latest “Swag and Perk” podcast. “I’ve got a problem with the Celtics fan base. OK? I played there eight and a half years. Maybe I’ve got certain expectations that they don’t have anymore. Because when I was playing there, it was all about championships. Matter of fact, they call their city, ‘City of Champions.’ Because if you look at what the Red Sox do, the Patriots, the Bruins, the Celtics. They win championships.
“So now, when I look, are ya’ll just OK? So now the Celtics fans wanna call me a hater. How am I a hater because I have high expectations for an organization that I love, that I bleed green. I bleed green.”
For what it’s worth, Tatum since has said there’s “no beef” between him and Perkins.
Perkins, who won an NBA title with the Celtics in 2008, made clear he doesn’t want the organization to break up the Tatum-Brown tandem. Instead, he wants them to “shine together” in Boston.
The C’s have struggled for most of this season, though. It’s certainly fair, when factoring in last season’s disappointment, to question whether they’re capable of coexisting on a championship-caliber team.
But Tatum clearly doesn’t want to hear that. And neither do some Celtics fans, apparently.
