“I can’t believe Milwaukee let this happen. So, thanks to the Bucks.” Jayson Tatum’s reaction after he realized Jrue Holiday was going to be his teammate shows exactly how important he was in the Celtics’ championship pursuit. Surely the most pivotal move of last summer, isn’t it? Well, NBA legend Kendrick Perkins recently held Mikal Bridges, getting acquired by the Knicks, to the same standard, leaving the Celtics nation baffled at their former superstar turned analyst.

During a segment on ESPN’s NBA Today, Big Perk addressed which new face he thinks will move the needle the most for a franchise, saying, “I’m going with the New York Knicks getting Mikal Bridges.” Then, he made a bold claim, “He could be what Jrue Holiday is for the Boston Celtics. That’s how elite this young man is on both ends of the floor.”

Since Mikal got traded to the Knicks to join forces with his former Villanova teammates, fans have been expecting him to be the missing piece that gets them to a championship. During his time in Phoenix, he helped Devin Booker and Co. reach the NBA Finals three years ago and averaged a solid 11.1 points in those playoffs.

When it was time for him to be the primary scoring option in Brooklyn, Bridges increased his points average to 21.2 in his two seasons there. And that’s exactly the kind of versatility the New York side was looking for. But despite Mikal’s potential, Perkins’ Jrue Holiday comparison seems a bit ambitious because the latter is a two-time champion and is arguably the best defensive guard in the league. Sure enough, fans were not happy with the analyst’s take!

Hoops community wants Kendrick Perkins to be shown the door after his “horrendous” take on NBA’s ‘Iron Man’

As KP’s take blew up on the socials, fans were left outraged by the bold comparison and some even demanded his firing from the network. “How has Perkins not been fired? His takes are horrendously bad!” a netizen wrote, obviously not agreeing that Mikal could have the same impact on the Knicks that Holiday had on the Cs this past season. Similar comments like “How does Kendrick Perkins still have a job at ESPN?” and “Get this dude off TV he has no idea what he’s talking about,” also started flooding in, expressing outrage toward the former Celtics star.

Well, Perkins has had his fair share of controversial takes on ESPN. Surely, the one that made the most noise came last year when he suggested that Nikola Jokic won his multiple MVP awards because of racial bias in voters, “When it comes to MVP voting, 80% of the votes are white American. 20% are others.” But it doesn’t look like the big man is going to be off ESPN anytime soon.

Meanwhile, some fans agreed that Mikal Bridges is a solid player and can impact winning, but comparing him to a proven superstar like Jrue Holiday right away might be disrespectful to the two-time champion. “He’s good but damn are they overhyping this man.” And “I see what he’s trynna say but you can’t compare a proven winner to a player who has similar skill sets,” a netizen wrote.

While Kendrick Perkins’ claim has visibly rubbed some fans the wrong way, the analyst firmly believes that Mikal Bridges is an All-Star caliber player and not a role player, who will fit well in Tom Thibodeau’s system. Moreover, the new Knicks star has built a reputation of being an ‘Iron Man’ as he has not missed a game in the last six seasons (streak of 474) and we all know how much Coach Thibs tends to overexert his star players in the playoffs. And that could work well in Bridges’ favor because of his durability.

Hopefully, it will finally lead the New York Knicks to a championship. Do you agree with Perkins’ Bridges-Holiday comparison?