Our favorite Western conference center – Kendrick Perkins – didn’t mince words (shocking, I know) when asked about the revamped Lakers:
“We are the Western Conference champs,” Perkins said. “So at the end of the day, we’re not chasing nobody except for the ring. We’re chasing Miami to get a championship. It’s no guarantee who is going to be where. But we earned the Western champs so we’re not chasing the Lakers, we’re chasing a championship and that’s what it’s about.”
Perkins and Howard developed a rivalry from their days battling in the East, Perkins with Boston and Howard with Orlando. The two played 24 times in the regular season and battled against one another in two playoff series. It was in those meetings that Perkins established a reputation for being the best low-post defender in basketball and the most capable center of slowing down Howard.
Now that Howard has joined Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash in L.A., Perkins figures to be more valuable than ever to the Thunder. It’ll be Perkins’ job to limit Howard this season, which could be vital if the Thunder has any plans on making a return trip to the NBA Finals.
“Yeah we’ve had our battles in the Eastern Conference but it’s not too much of a big difference (with Howard in L.A.) because (Andrew) Bynum wasn’t just a cakewalk by no means,” Perkins said. “We definitely got our hands full as a team but we’re doing good.”
Gotta love Perk. Always a straight-shooter.
Now if he would just stop dropping the ball to knee level and ease up on the officials. Oops, old habits die hard.
(h/t Hoopsworld)
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