Kendrick Perkins is not a franchise cornerstone player. He’s not a guy who teams sign to change their fortunes on the court and he’s not a guy who’s going to put up 20 and 10 every night. In a possible 38 games this season with the New Orleans Pelicans, Perkins has only played 9 games. Yet for some reason, whenever Perkins talks, people listen.
The veteran big man has played alongside LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Kevin Garnett, Kyrie Irving, Russell Westbrook, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen and has raked in an NBA championship alongside the Celtics in 2008. Perk has never been a guy to produce on the court but off the court, everyone respects what he has to offer.
So with Perkins as a deep reserve on the 12-26 Pelicans who are led by Anthony Davis, there’s obviously a reason behind some of his frustration. He’s not used to losing like this and he’s not liking it one bit.
Following from Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.
“It’s very disappointing. At the end of the day, this is not what I signed up for,” Perkins told Yahoo Sports before Wednesday’s win against the Sacramento Kings. “I signed up after I looked from the outside, coming in to a good young team that has been making strides in the right direction. We got real comfortable. We ain’t got long to make a push.
“At this point in time, we are all just searching to find the right lineups and who is going to come out and compete at a high level every night. That’s been our main problem before anything else. We just come out too many nights and don’t compete at the level we need in order to win. What really is the key to everything is our level of competitiveness.”
“Even though the West isn’t what it used to be, we can make up some ground [to make the playoffs],” Perkins, who won an NBA title with the Boston Celtics in 2008, told Yahoo. “But we got to make it up sooner rather than later. [The coaches] are trying everything. They’re trying to put us in a position every night to be successful. The effort is not on coach. It’s on players.”
Anthony Davis went on to echo Perkins’ sentiments and put the Pelicans struggles on his shoulders.
“I’m frustrated with losing and our energy and effort on the floor,” Davis, who missed the Lakers’ game because of a bruised back, told Yahoo Sports. “But I know guys are really trying. They go out and compete every night. The frustration comes more when we don’t. Like in the Laker game, we didn’t bring it. It’s even more frustrating when I can’t play.”
“We can’t pick and choose when we want to play, especially with the position we are in as a team,” Davis told Yahoo Sports. “It’s been a roller-coaster. I don’t think anyone comes out and says, ‘We are going to pick to play tonight,’ or ‘We are going to play tonight.’ I think it just happens. It starts with me.”
The Pelicans are way back in the standings and it would be hard for them to scrape up some wins to sneak in as an eight seed for the second year in a row.
Ryan Anderson has been rumored in many trade scenarios and the injury bug has infected New Orleans. Davis is just the biggest name on the list of big injuries to the Pelicans including Jrue Holiday, Eric Gordon and Tyreke Evans. It might be time for the Pelicans to just wrap it up and tank for a high draft pick. Hopefully for them, they’ll drop to the first pick and select a star in their own backyard, LSU’s Ben Simmons.
