Serge Ibaka used to be teammates with Kendrick Perkins on the Oklahoma City Thunder. This was all at a time when Kevin Durant was just 23 and Russell Westbrook, as well as James Harde, were 22. Of course, this team never won a title together, although they probably should have.
Despite this, Perkins seems to have some resentment toward the team. In fact, he made some weird assertion today that Ibaka was lying about his age when he played for the Thunder. Ibaka was 21 at the time, however, that did not stop Perkins from using a racist trope against Africans.
“Kevin Durant is only 23, Westbrook is only 22, Harden is 22, Serge Ibaka is 21, although he was probably 30 at the time because we know how certain individuals lie about their age.”
Kendrick Perkins poking fun at Ibaka
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— Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) December 26, 2022
“Kevin Durant is only 23, Westbrook is only 22, Harden is 22, Serge Ibaka is 21, although he was probably 30 at the time because we know how certain individuals lie about their age,” Perkins said. Many realized that this had some weird racial undertones, including Ibaka.
Serge Ibaka Responds
While taking to Twitter, Ibaka made sure to tell Perkins that he did not appreciate what was said on the air. He noted that it is a negative trope used against African people and that he wishes people would be less ignorant. Furthermore, Ibaka called out Perkins for being a bad teammate.
“I count my blessings every day and I don’t usually react to comments about me. But It’s disappointing to hear someone I shared a locker room with spreading misinformation to be relevant and get views on TV and social media,” Ibaka said. “You can talk about my game If I don’t play well, I will never have a problem with that. But to talk extra for no reason is really not acceptable. It is disrespectful to me and I feel like it is disrespectful to many Africans who have to live with that unfounded accusation.”
Perkins clearly did not care all that much as he simply wrote back “Bro it was a damn joke. Stop being so damn sensitive.” As you can imagine, this is a comment that did not sit well with fans, who know that Perkins has gone too far on multiple occasions.
Overall, this is a bad look for the ESPN analyst, who has already said some questionable stuff in the past.
Let us know what you think of Perkins’ remarks, in the comments down below.
[Via]