Former NBA center and current ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins is addressing the viral confrontation that took place during his son’s AAU basketball game over the weekend.
Video circulated online showing Perkins being restrained during a heated courtside altercation, quickly sparking plenty of reaction across social media.
Perkins later responded on X with a blunt message.
“Damn right and it probably won’t be the last time,” Perkins wrote. “I’m going to protect every single kid in my organization like they’re my own.”
Now, Perkins has offered more context surrounding exactly what led to the situation.
Appearing on The Pat McAfee Show, Perkins explained the incident involved his AAU program, Young Perkins Global, during what he described as an intense tournament game.
According to Perkins, tensions escalated after the game ended when an opposing player allegedly body-slammed one of the kids on his team.
“We end up winning the game,” Perkins said. “The other team, they had this guy that’s like 7-foot, 400 pounds. After the game, he comes and he body slams one of my kids that play for my team.”
Perkins said he then approached the opposing coach in an effort to calm things down.
“I tell the coach of the other team, ‘Hey, bro. Get your players. I got mine,’” Perkins said.
From there, things apparently escalated quickly.
“He got smart with me again, that’s when I got pissed off,” Perkins added.
Perkins also made it clear there were ultimately no lingering hard feelings between the sides.
“And then afterwards we dabbed up,” he said. “He said, ‘My bad,’ I said ‘My bad’ and we kept it moving.”
So while the video itself looked chaotic, Perkins insists the situation was eventually resolved once emotions cooled off.
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