Kendrick Perkins Bashes LeBron James’s Recent Quote About Kyrie Irving

June 6, 2024 Jimm Sallivan

Kendrick Perkins wasn’t thrilled with LeBron James’s recent statement about former teammate Kyrie Irving ahead of the 2024 NBA Finals.

On his Mind the Game podcast with JJ Redick earlier this week, James said he is “so f—— mad” that he’s not Irving’s running mate anymore in the NBA.

While James’s Los Angeles Lakers were bounced from the playoffs in the first round, Irving’s Dallas Mavericks are preparing to face the Boston Celtics on basketball’s biggest stage.

“Here we go again,” Perkins said Thursday on ESPN. “Bron weaseling his way into somebody else’s moment … This is not about you! Your team is at home. This is about the Mavs and the Celtics, but yet you’re so mad and disappointed that you’re not Kyrie Irving’s running mate anymore. Here we go again.”

“Here we go again, [LeBron James] weaseling his way into somebody else’s moment… This is not about you! Your team is at home… You’re so mad & disappointed that you’re not Kyrie Irving’s running mate anymore.”

— Kendrick Perkins 😳

(via @espn / YT)pic.twitter.com/VUhC28b3gg https://t.co/gD4SdNBrYF

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) June 6, 2024

Irving and James played three seasons together on the Cavaliers from 2014 to ’17 and brought an NBA championship to Cleveland in 2016.

In 2017, Irving asked the Cavaliers for a trade, and he ended up in Boston for two years. When that didn’t work out, Irving signed with the Brooklyn Nets in 2019 and later requested another trade in 2023, where he landed with the Mavericks.

Seven years after departing James in Cleveland, things have finally come together for Irving. He and backcourt mate Luka Doncic have proven to be the NBA’s best scoring duo throughout the fifth-seeded Mavericks’ run to the NBA Finals.

Irving and the Mavericks tip off the NBA Finals in Game 1 on Thursday night at TD Garden.

13 Jun 24 Jimm Sallivan

Celtics Media Trolls Mavericks’ Luka Dončić With Petty Graphic After Game 3

Following the Boston Celtics’ 106-99 Game 3 win over the Dallas Mavericks to take a commanding 3-0 series lead in the NBA Finals, the Celtics media thought they would have a little fun with Mavericks star Luka Doncic.

NBA fans and analysts alike were well-aware of Doncic’s foul-baiting antics and incessant complaints throughout the game, and one Celtics media member decided enough was enough.

Doncic finished with 27 points on 11-of-27 shooting, but he fouled out with roughly four minutes left in the fourth quarter. NBC Sports Boston took the latter of those statistics and turned it into a savage graphic on X (formerly known as Twitter) paired with a screenshot of Doncic at the postgame presser.

The caption read, “petty o’clock”

petty o'clock pic.twitter.com/Ns3gkr6MVE
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) June 13, 2024

Doncic appeared to tut at the officiating after the game, as his fifth and sixth fouls were arguably very close calls. One game away from suffering a Finals sweep, the Mavericks will host the Celtics for Game 4 on Friday night.

6 May 24 Jimm Sallivan

Little-Used Celtics Player Reacts to Cavaliers Fans Chanting ‘We Want Boston’

The Cleveland Cavaliers overcame a 10-point halftime deficit to blow the doors off the Orlando Magic on Sunday in Game 7 of their first round NBA playoffs series, which will earn them a date with the top-seeded Boston Celtics in round two. Jubiliant fans at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse spent the final minutes chanting "we want Boston" because that's just what fans do and they are entirely right to prefer the season keep going rather than end. Heck, it's not even that interesting of an event, even though the Celtics are heavy favorites to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Fans chant “We want Boston” in final minutes.#LetEmKnow | #NBAPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/mmaIK5K8GO
— Bally Sports Cleveland (@BallySportsCLE) May 5, 2024

But Boston reserve forward Oshae Brisset found the development intriguing enough to post about, saying "hear the chants" with one of those eye-covering emojis available on X, formerly Twitter. Then he deleted it, which doesn't do much good after enough people see it.

Brisset played six minutes in the Celtics' opening round victory over the Miami Heat. He's not expected to be a major factor in the battle against Cleveland either. Or perhaps that's changed after a routine chant awakened a sleeping giant.

There are no real rules for this but it does seem like most people are already operating on the sensible plane when it comes to in-arena proclamations about wanting to play whatever team is next on the schedule. Which is that it's entirely fine. There's nothing wrong with it at all and no one is going to be the first person to, in that moment, start a "we're probably going to lose chant" because they might need a ride home from their buddy after the final buzzer. Pretty much every human who made it public that they "wanted Bama" lived to regret it. It's just something you say.

5 Jun 24 Jimm Sallivan

Mavericks vs. Celtics NBA Expert Prediction and Odds for NBA Finals Game 1 (Can Boston Cover?)

After a week off, the NBA returns for the Dallas Mavericks-Boston Celtics matchup in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night.

Boston – the favorite in the series – comes into this matchup as a 6.5-point favorite after Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and company rolled through the Eastern Conference, going 12-2 to reach the Finals.

The Mavericks have been a little more battle-tested, but they flexed their muscle in the Western Conference Finals to close the Minnesota Timberwolves out in five games behind four games of 32 points or more from Luka Doncic.

Dallas has struggled in Game 1s in the Jason Kidd era, going 1-5 straight up, but 6.5 points is quite the spread for an opening game in the Finals. Can Boston, who had the No. 1 net rating in the regular season – and so far in the playoffs – show why it’s the favorite on Thursday?

Here’s our full betting preview with the latest odds, key players to watch and a best bet for Game 1:

Spread

Moneyline

Total

Mavericks Injury Report

Celtics Injury Report

Dallas Mavericks

Luka Doncic: The 2023-24 regular season MVP finalist leads the playoffs in total points, rebounds, assists, steals and 3-pointers made, recording six triple-doubles in 17 games. Luka really came on in the Western Conference Finals, scoring 32 or more points in all four of Dallas’ wins, and he is going to be the main focus for Boston’s defense in Game 1.

Boston Celtics

Jayson Tatum: Jayson Tatum has not shot the ball well in the postseason – 44.2 percent from the field, 29.0 percent from 3 – but he’s made an impact elsewhere averaging over 10 rebounds and five assists per game. Tatum didn’t play his best in his first NBA Finals appearance in 2022, but the Celtics star has a better team around him – and that experience to lean on – in this series.

Boston deserves a little more respect for its run to the Finals, even if it faced a few banged-up teams along the way.

The C’s needed just 14 games to get through the East, winning in blowouts against Miami and Cleveland as well as taking three games against the Indiana Pacers where the Pacers had a 90 percent win probability or higher in the fourth quarter of three of the four games.

An interesting trend for Game 1 of the NBA Finals surfaced this week, showing that since 2005, the favorite is 16-3 ATS in Game 1.

Celtics are currently 6.5-pt favorites in Game 1 of the NBA Finals vs. Mavericks.
Since 2005, favorites in G1 of the finals are 16-3 ATS, including 21-9 ATS over the last 30 years ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/u7x78QG9z0
— Evan Abrams (@EvanHAbrams) June 4, 2024

I think that bodes well for a Boston team that covered in two of its three Game 1s so far this postseason and was 37-4 straight up at home in the regular season. The C’s also posted a 26-21-2 against the spread record as home favorites this season, winning those games by an average margin of victory of 14.4 points.

I have a lot of respect for the run Dallas made, but Jason Kidd’s team has struggled in Game 1s since he took over, going 1-5 straight up and losing four of those five games by seven or more points.

I’m worried about Dallas’ role players and whether or not they’ll make enough shots for key defenders like Derrick Jones Jr. and PJ Washington to stay on the floor for the majority of the game. Boston, on the other hand, is going to be even deeper with Kristaps Porzingis likely back in action.

I’ll lay the points with the C’s in Game 1.

Pick: Celtics -6.5 (-110)

Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.

Find Peter Dewey's betting record here You can also follow my daily plays on BetStamp here.

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Kendrick Perkins Bashes LeBron James’s Recent Quote About Kyrie Irving

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