Kendrick Perkins Sets Record Straight On Celtics Ring Night Rumor

Kendrick Perkins opened up about where he stood with the Boston Celtics.

A tantalizing rumor emerged last week that claimed Perkins was banned from attending the Celtics’ ring ceremony on Opening Night. The 2008 NBA champion has a complex relationship with the franchise and its fans. Perkins hasn’t been afraid to criticize Joe Mazzulla, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, and those critiques drew the ire of Green Teamers.

Perkins was on “All the Smoke” this week to not only address the ring night rumor but also continue his ever-growing feud with a former teammate.

“To be quite honest, “I don’t give a (expletive). I don’t give a (expletive),” Perkins told Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes. “I don’t give a (expletive) because here’s the thing, I never take winning the championship for granted. But they act like you have to be tied to that situation or that’s your life. It was an honor to play for one of the most historical franchises. I never take that for granted. I think what ended up happening was — well, I know — I said a take about Joe Mazzulla. They win the championship, and Brian Scalabrine, (expletive) Scal, he’s like, ‘Well, door’s not just open for him to come back to the Celtic organization.’

“Now, it’s two things I took from that. One, Scal, who the (expletive) are you? You’s the same (expletive) that, when we won a championship, was in street clothes, hurry up and changed into your jersey so once we started taking pictures, you could know that you was part of the team. And I actually like Scal, but I thought that should have been a phone conversation.”

Perkins revealed he received an email from Mazzulla inviting him to dinner in January when Boston plays the Houston Rockets. The ESPN NBA analyst plans on taking up the head coach on his offer, but it’s probably not the last fans will hear from Perkins and his relationship with the Celtics and former players.