Videos by OutKick
Nearly a week since LeBron James accused Boston Celtics fans of being “racist as f–k,” ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins, a former Celtic, is coming to the defense of his former fanbase and simultaneously calling James a hypocrite.
“There’s racism everywhere,” Perkins said via ESPN’s First Take. “…I spent eight and a half years there, and maybe (it’s) because I was on the Celtics, (but) I didn’t experience racism.”
Perkins was with Boston from the time he was drafted (2003) until he was traded to Oklahoma City (February 2011), winning a title in 2008. He admits that Boston fans are aggressive and can go overboard, but he doesn’t agree with James labeling them as “racist as f–.”
“The fans in Boston do cross the line and hit below the belt when it comes down to being disrespectful,” admitted Perkins. He later added that he’s witnessed fans throw things at opposing players and negatively address their personal lives, but insisted: “I’ve never dealt with racism.”
Perkins then circled back to LeBron’s original comment that singled out the Boston fanbase, pointing out the hypocrisy of James continuing to hold an ownership stake in the Boston Red Sox.
“Why would you even want to address or have ownership into an organization that you would consider a city of being racist,” asked Perkins. “That’s my question to LeBron James. Like, you own a percentage of the Boston Red Sox.”
James reportedly owns around 10% of the Red Sox as part of his ownership stake with Fenway Sports Group.
“Do we overlook the bigger picture when it comes down to actually making money,” Perkins rhetorically asked of James. “If we going to sit on here on one hand and say that the fans of Boston are racist, but on the other hand, you own a percentage of the Boston Red Sox, I’m kind of confused in that aspect.”
Us too, Kendrick.
Follow along on Twitter: @OhioAF
If Lebron didn’t have double standards, he wouldn’t have any at all.
What an unfathomably ridiculous thing to assert by Lebron. I think he is saying Boston has a lot of white people, right? Most big cities have more blacks, which then makes Lebron racist, right?
Right more blacks means more violence i.e. Chicago Baltimore Detroit and this racist moron always looks through a race lens instead of just people
LeBron would be setting up cones on a highway with his high school diploma if he wasn’t amazing at basketball. People need to stop equating celebrity and wealth with intelligence.
Why White people continue to support the NBA is beyond me. A lot of those players hate Whites. Queen James just says it out loud.
“Anyone who doesn’t like me is racist”.