It’s a ducking war of words among former Celtics teammates.
A feud has exploded between former 2008 champions after Brian Scalabrine claimed the Celtics purposefully did not invite Kendrick Perkins to be part of the 2024 championship celebration in Boston.
“No, no, no, no, no, no,” Scalabrine said on his SiriusXM show when asked if Perkins had been invited, as transcribed by Boston.com. “Big scarlet letter. … It’s not really an open-arms thing with Kendrick Perkins.”
Perkins, now an ESPN analyst, clapped back at Scalabrine, labeling him a “coward.”
“Right now, I feel like Scal is a coward,” Perkins said on the Boston show “Felger and Mazz” on Monday. “If you go publicly to say something like that, and I reach out to you privately, at least call me back.
“Was I the only 2008 member missing from the duck boat? No, I wasn’t. [Eddie] House, my guy, he was there. Leon Powe, great friend of mine as well, he was there. Scal was there and Paul [Pierce] was there. There was still 11 other guys missing. And to be honest with you, if I would’ve got an invite, which I didn’t — I didn’t know we was supposed to — but anyways, nine times out of 10, I would’ve turned it down.
“It’s not because I don’t have love for the city of Boston, because I do. It’s not because I don’t have love for the organization, because I do. … But that’s not our moment. That’s 2024′s moment. Let those guys have their moment.”
Scalabrine and Perkins won a championship with the Celtics in 2008 and served as teammates from 2005-10, and are both now in the media space.
While Scalabrine calls Celtics game, where he’s far less likely to be critical, Perkins, in his national role, has the floor to be far more critical.
It’s possible Perkins ruffled some feathers — and the pun is coming — when he referred to Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla having a bird brain.
“They have two Joe Mazzullas,” Perkins said in Jaunary, as transcribed by Boston.com. “They have the one that got the philosophy of ‘we’re going to get up more 3s than you.’ When they do, when they hit them, he looks great.” Then you have the other Joe Mazzulla, who just stands over there.
“And you wonder, if you take his brain out and you put it in a bird, the bird is going to start flying backward. You got that Joe Mazzulla. You know why I say that? Because he doesn’t get these guys open looks”
Perkins explained that while he still has love for the Celtics, he considers the Celtics chapter of his life closed and he’s moved onto his career.
He said Scalabrine told him he would call him back but did not do so.
“If that’s the way you feel, and that’s what you’re saying is maybe too be true, I don’t know this, it may be, I don’t know, if you feel that way, OK, you saying that publicly,” Perkins said, “so when I call you and you don’t pick up, and then you tell me you’ll call me later and you don’t want to have a grown-man conversation about it, and you always pick up any other time, I got a problem with that.”
He added: “Right now, I feel like you’re ducking me.”
