Kendrick Perkins recently sent a big message to the Brooklyn Nets Big 3, calling out all their members, explaining why each of them should do to assure they can play every game, not only road matches.
The former NBA player-turned-analyst has been one of the biggest critics of Kyrie Irving, who is still unvaccinated and can only play when the team is out of town. This situation is better than not having Kyrie at all, but Perkins believes the rest of the team should push the point guard to get the covid-19 vaccine and become a full-time player.
He aimed at Kevin Durant and James Harden during a recent appearance, calling them out for staying silent while Kyrie remains unvaxxed. The 2008 NBA champion called the Nets duo 'soft' for not using their voices to end this issue once and for all.
“The guys that are in that are in the locker room for the Brooklyn Nets, they’re soft,” Perkins said on ESPN's First Take, via Heavy.
“They’re soft, starting with KD and James [Harden] because if they had any type of umph about themselves, they would actually say, ‘Hey dog, look here man this is what’s going on.’ I don’t want to hear from KD in the interview saying, ‘Oh man, Kyrie is a grown man, we have to respect his decisions.’ No, call him out.”
Durant and Harden have made it clear they won't force Kyrie to do anything he doesn't want to do and that's fine. Not even the team is trying to change that, so it's hard to see the duo calling out their teammate. The Nets are in a privileged position right now. Perhaps, if they start losing games and look lost without Durant and Irving at Barclays Center, Harden would be more vocal and express his frustration, trying to get a reaction from Kyrie or the organization.
Still, that seems like a long shot right now. The trio has a good relationship and if they can play together on the road, that is enough for them now.
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