Kendrick Perkins’ words are always drawing attention — even if not spoken on-air.
On Saturday, X account NBA Alerts, which monitors NBA players’ latest follows and unfollows on the platform, shared that LeBron James no longer follows Perkins on the platform.
“Everybody didn’t follow Jesus, I’ll be ok,” Perkins wrote in response.
His missive quickly caught fire, amassing over 31,000 likes in only three days, much of the reaction likely due to Perkins seemingly comparing himself to Jesus.
“Bro think he Jesus. Lmao,” Suns superstar Kevin Durant commented on an Instagram post about the encounter — garnering an impressive 54,000 likes of his own.
However, the charade didn’t stop there as Perkins devoted part of his time on Monday morning’s ESPN’s “First Take” to chime in further.
“Imagine unfollowing me on Twitter, but you still got to wake up and watch me on TV every day,” Perkins said. “I ain’t going nowhere anytime soon.”
Beyond that, Perkins called James “sensitive,” saying the Lakers star took exception to Perkins judging him and the Lakers firing head coach Darvin Ham.
“The few times that I disagree with you, you get in your feelings. You don’t pick up the phone and hit me up or send me a text,” Perkins remarked.
Perkins and James were teammates for two Eastern Conference Championship-winning seasons in Cleveland, including in Perkins’ final go in 2017-18.
Theey were also drafted in 2003, with each selected in the top 27 picks.
While James has remained one of the NBA’s most dominant forces — an All-Star for a 20th straight season and finishing 13th in scoring per game at age 39 — Perkins has transitioned to the media space since retiring in 2019, joining ESPN.
He’s prominently featured on ESPN’s top basketball broadcasts, including “NBA Countdown” and “NBA Today.”
Perkins is known for his brash comments and not holding back, so this isn’t necessarily anything new.
With Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving only totaling 28 points through two early Finals losses, Perkins tweeted that “Kyrie hasn’t made it to the Finals yet.”
Perkins’ signature slogan is “Carry the hell on.” Now, the 39-year-old will have to do that knowing that two of the NBA’s most recent legends don’t appear to be in his corner.