Did Joe Mazzulla Fire Shot At Kendrick Perkins With ‘Bird Brain’ Joke?

Kendrick Perkins used his ESPN microphone to fire a harsh shot at Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla, and it wasn't forgotten.

Never afraid to offer the Celtics tough love, Perkins attacked Mazzulla's head-coaching intellect following Boston's recent 102-100 loss to the Denver Nuggets. Keeping that stored in mind, Mazzulla (presumably) flipped the verbal jab subliminally and sarcastically before Tuesday night's Celtics-Indiana Pacers matchup.

"I'm a bird brain, you know I can't do that," Mazzulla told reporters when asked to go in-depth on Boston's injury report.

Short, not sweet, and straight to the point -- a very Mazzulla on-brand response coming fresh off a 17-point deficit-erasing win over the New Orleans Pelicans the night prior amid a seven-game homestand.

Specifically, Perkins targeted Mazzulla for his approach to utilizing Boston's offensive weapons more efficiently. When facing the defending NBA champions, the Celtics attempted 44 shots from 3-point range, going 3-for-12 in the third quarter alone. It was even worse considering Denver had no outside game, shooting a poor 25.8% from three on 25 attempts. Yet, Nuggets head coach Mike Malone overcame that.

As for Boston, there wasn't much of an urgent response shown as that remained the gameplan while two-time MVP Nikola Jokic had his way and recorded a 34-point, 12-rebound double-double.

"They have two Joe Mazzulla's," Perkins said on ESPN's "NBA Today" program. "They have the one that got the philosophy of, 'We're gonna get up more threes than you,' and when they do and they hit them, he looks great. And then you have the other Joe Mazzulla that just stands over there and you wonder, like, if you take his brain out and you put it in a bird, the bird is going to start flying backwards."

Perkins expressed concern about how nights like Boston's loss to Denver could translate into yet another disappointing playoff exit down the line.

"He doesn't get these guys easy looks," Perkins added. "... You have so many guys that are great at cutting. They cannot continue to play AAU-style of basketball all the time. You gotta have sense."

To Mazzulla's credit, the Celtics are an NBA-best 36-11 with very few inexcusable-like moments warranting red flags to be raised. Seems like that's still not enough for Perkins.