Kendrick Perkins involved in altercation at son's AAU basketball game after player was allegedly body slammed
Kendrick Perkins, the former NBA center and current ESPN basketball analyst, found himself at the center of a viral moment over the weekend after an altercation broke out at an AAU tournament game in Norman, Oklahoma, where he coaches his son's team, YPG Perkins.
The incident occurred during a 17U matchup between Perkins' squad and a team called the Swaveway Playaz. According to Perkins, tensions had been building throughout a heated game before spilling over after the final buzzer. He said a player from the opposing team, described by Perkins as roughly 7 feet tall and around 400 pounds, body-slammed one of his players to the ground after the game had ended.
That player, Perkins explained, did not have his parents at the game. They had entrusted the former NBA champion with their child's safety — a responsibility Perkins said he takes seriously.
A video of the confrontation spread quickly across social media. In the clip, the 6-foot-10 Perkins can be seen shouting toward someone off-camera while coaches and other adults attempt to hold him back and defuse the situation. The video does not show what set Perkins off, but the reaction made clear that the moment was tense.
Perkins addressed the viral video on X, formerly Twitter, with a defiant message: "Damn right, and it probably won't be the last time! I'm going to protect every single kid in my organization like they're my own."
He elaborated on what happened during an appearance on ESPN's "The Pat McAfee Show," offering a detailed account of the postgame sequence. Perkins said the other team's player attacked one of his athletes, and as players from both sides began to converge, he stepped in to separate his own team. He then asked the opposing coach to handle his players as well.
"He pops off. 'I ain't getting nothing, I ain't getting nothing. Who the hell are you,'" Perkins recounted of the exchange with the other coach. "The kid that got slammed to the ground, his parents weren't at the game. So, his parents trusted me with their child. So, I gotta protect that child as if he's mine."
Perkins was clear that he did not go into the situation looking for trouble. His stated priority, he said, was making sure the young player got home safely to his family.
Before becoming a prominent voice on sports television, Perkins played 14 seasons in the NBA. A Texas native, he spent eight of those years with the Boston Celtics, where he was a starting center and helped the team win the 2008 NBA championship. He averaged 6.4 points and 6.1 rebounds per game during his time in Boston. He was later traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder, where he played five seasons, and also had stints with the Cleveland Cavaliers and New Orleans Pelicans before retiring from the league.
The altercation has drawn significant attention online, with the video racking up views across multiple platforms. So far, no charges or formal disciplinary actions have been reported.
